Mione the Headstrong
by MuggleBeene
Summary: Mione Boyd, daughter of Professor Muggle and goddaughter of Hermione Weasley, may be a twin but she definitely has her own way of thinking.  Follow Mione through the years and find out how nobody can tell her what to do.  Short story series.
1. It Started with a Hat

**Chapter 1: It Started with a Hat**

_2022_

Melody Boyd was angry; the meeting with the teacher at the Muggle school had not gone well. More than an hour of enduring withering gazes and terse comments from an elderly Muggle woman wearing sensible shoes while sitting at a very small table was not something that she relished, especially as Melody was most definitely not a Muggle. She opened the front door of the house with her wand and looked at her daughter.

"Hermione Helen Boyd, go to your room and stay there until supper! Do you hear me?"

Mione, her blonde hair arranged in two pigtails and fastened at the end with Butterbeer cork hair ties, scowled at her mother and walked to her room as slowly as possible. After closing, not slamming, the door she sat on her bed and stuck out her tongue in the general direction of her mother. Not more than a minute later the door opened and her twin sister Minnie sat on the bed with her. Mione didn't say anything to her twin, as for the most part the girls knew each other so well they didn't have to really say anything. Finally, Mione couldn't take it and turned abruptly towards her sister.

"It's not fair, Minnie. I don't wanna go to the Muggle school. I wanna go to the Aunt Lavinia's school like everyone we know."

"You shouldn't have done it, Mione. Susie's mean, but you can't make her books do that."

"It was pretty keen, though, wasn't it? When her books flew out of her hand and started hitting her on the head?" Mione laughed. "An' nobody saw it except for us, so she can't prove it."

Minnie shook her head. "But Mum knows. It's not even Christmas yet and you've been in trouble six times. I heard Mum say that if you get in any more trouble they may not let you go to Hogwarts when we turn eleven."

"Uncle Neville will make them." Mione's face was defiant. "He's the Headmaster now. He outranks Mum."

Minnie shook her strawberry-blonde hair, causing her ponytail to sway. "I don't think anybody outranks Mum, including Dad." After a few moments Minnie stood up. "I'm going to see if I can help her with supper. Maybe that'll stop Mum from being so angry at you."

Mione didn't say anything, and after her sister left the room she flopped over on her stomach, ending up flat on her bed. She reached underneath her pillow and pulled out a creased black and white photo of a boy who smiled at the camera, waved, and then flew off on a broom out of the edge of the photograph. She sighed; when she was Mrs. Albus Potter she'd never have to listen to her Mum's rules.

Saturday morning, surprisingly, was a clear but cold day. The last few weeks of incessant rain and snow had kept the Boyd girls inside the house, and Melody Boyd was at her wit's end. Only the owl from Ginny Potter gave her any hope, as the letter had suggested that a trip to see the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin Quidditch match might be the cure for the stir-crazy family. After broaching the topic with the twins, Melody was surprised at the reactions; Minnie actually wanted to go, but Quidditch-mad Mione wanted to stay home.

"Mione, you love Quidditch. Why don't you want to go?' Melody looked at her daughter and took a sip from a cup of tea in Hank's office. "The weather's going to be fine. Cold, but no snow."

"It's not fair, Mum. They get to use magic an' all I do is get in trouble for it."

Melody sighed. "One more year, Mione. Next September you'll be in Hogwarts with your brother and sisters."

Mione shook her head. Mum didn't get it; next year would be Al's sixth year and she wouldn't have time to grow up and make him fall in love with her.

After Melody and the twins arrived outside Hogwarts Mione immediately let go of her mother's hand. Side-along apparition was bad enough on its own, but to be forced to hold her Mum's hand? Horrible. As they walked across the Hogwarts grounds to meet up with Ginny Potter Mione's mood had not improved; if anything it had deteriorated, causing her to walk slowly and become even more irritated with her Mum. Luckily, though, when they entered the pitch her Mum, Ginny and Minnie all started to walk towards the Hufflepuff side and Mione saw her chance.

"I'm going to see Virginia. See you back here after the match." Before her Mum could disagree Mione ran off towards her older sister, who stood with her Slytherin classmates about twenty yards ahead. Eventually Mione found herself with a group of girls and couple of boys, some who looked her sister's age and some a bit older.

Virginia looked down at her little sister. "Why are you coming with me? You never sit on the Slytherin side. What are you up to this time?"

"Mum's making me mental, an' nobody really sits with you very much, just Dad when Hufflepuff's not playing."

Virginia shook her head, causing her long ponytail to sway. "Mum sits on my side, too. It's HR's turn today. She's fair about stuff."

"Nu-uh. She's been really unfair about Muggle school." Mione pursed her lips in irritation and sniffed a couple of times.

Virginia sighed as they began the climb up into the stands with two of her Slytherin housemates. She knew those signs from her little sister well enough to know that whatever she said Mione would disagree with, so it was easier just to ignore it. "Fine. Let's just find a place to sit and watch the match."

After arriving in the Slytherin stands Mione's good mood took another downward swing, as Virginia sat in the middle of her two housemates and the three girls did nothing to include Mione. Instead the girls huddled together and giggled occasionally, pointedly ignoring Mione. The few times she tried to interject herself into the conversation she was either ignored completely or given looks of extreme annoyance.

That was the last straw for Mione. School was awful, Mum was awful and her big sister was being awful. She felt her anger build until it made her close her eyes and shiver.

"Oh! My hat!"

Mione opened one eye to see a woman around her Mum's age lift up her wand towards the sky. A distinctly hat-like shape, but with wings and a tail, was starting to fly towards the Quidditch pitch. The woman waved her wand and the hat lost its wings and tail and floated over to the woman, who grabbed it and sat it on her lap. Before Mione could do anything the woman looked towards her and the other girls.

"Did one of you young ladies have a bit of fun with my hat?"

Mione covered her face with her hands. She couldn't see Virginia, but she could hear her.

"MIONE! What did you do now?"

"I couldn't help it, Gin! You and Mum just made me so mad 'n I couldn't stop it! I didn't do it on purpose, an'…"

The dark-haired lady smiled. "It's quite all right, girls." She motioned towards Mione. "Would you mind joining me?"

Mione's heart fell as she opened her hands to look at the lady. _Great_. Now she'd get an earful from the hat-lady, then Virginia and then Mum when the match was over. She didn't look at Virginia as she made her way down to the bottom row of the seats and sat down quickly next to the hat-lady.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's quite all right, my dear. I think the last time I saw you, well, you were just a baby. You've grown quite a bit since then."

"You know me? Uh, how's that? An' what's your name? Oh, I'm sorry I'm being rude again…"

The dark-haired woman put her wand back into her cloak and smiled down at the blonde girl. "My name is Astoria Malfoy. You don't remember me because it has been quite a long time since I was back in England. I've been traveling with Draco, my husband, for a number of years, but you probably don't want to hear about that. The match is about to start. Why don't you stay here with me?"

Mione nodded and watched as the teams began taking their warm up laps around the pitch. The hat-lady, or Astoria, didn't seem angry, but you could never tell with grown-ups.

* * *

Surprisingly to Mione, Astoria was very interested in the Quidditch match and didn't say much; instead she watched the players very intently. Even though she knew she was going to be in trouble Mione became interested in the contest. Slytherin was playing a very fast paced game while Hufflepuff's tactics were more defensive. More than anything Mione wished she was out there on a broom, a Seeker, of course, swooping and feinting until the other Seeker couldn't keep up anymore. Mione knew she would be a Seeker, Uncle Ron had told her that the last time she'd been on a broom over at Rose and Hugo's house. All the grown-ups went spare when they found out that Uncle Ron had given her a real broom instead of a toy broom, but he told them she was going to go to Hogwarts soon and needed to know how to ride a real broom. Aunt Hermione yelled at him for a while, but when she wasn't looking Uncle Ron winked at her. Uncle Ron was the coolest but even better he was her godfather.

When Astoria let out a small whoop Mione was brought out of her daydream of living with her godparents and riding a broom all day. She looked over to the lady and noticed for the first time that instead of sitting on the bleachers like everybody else Astoria had her own chair, one with wheels. That was odd. Before she could ask the match was over; the Slytherin Seeker had nabbed the snitch and Hufflepuff had lost again.

"Well, Miss Boyd, what did you think of that match?" Astoria turned to Mione. "I thought it was rather exciting."

Mione crinkled up her nose. "Yeah, I guess. Hufflepuff is always boring, they always play defense. I keep telling Dad to fix that but he never listens to me." Without realizing it Mione began staring at Astoria's chair.

"My legs don't work anymore, dear." Astoria patted her on the arm. "It's quite all right. It happened a few years ago when I was in New Orleans."

That snapped Mione to attention. "My mum said that's where Dad took her on their honeymoon." Mione cocked her head. "You know my parents?"

Astoria nodded. "Draco and I were back for a visit when you and your sister were born. Is your mum here today?"

Mione suddenly realized that the stands had almost emptied out, that Virginia was nowhere to be found and that she was going to be in trouble. "Um, can you talk to Mum? Sorry about your hat."

"Of course. Now let's head down." Astoria wheeled her chair towards the staircase and Mione couldn't figure out how she was going to get down. After a quick wave of the wand Astoria's chair seemed to float effortlessly down the stairs, Mione following behind until they both were on the cold grass.

"Hermione Helen Boyd!"

Mione closed her eyes for a moment, and when she finally got up the nerve to open them her mum was walking over very quickly, the rest of her family, even her Dad and her brother, following behind.

"Um, Mum, I didn't mean to…"

"Keep your mouth shut and listen to me. If you ever, and I mean ever do that again…"

"Melody, so good to see you again." Astoria smiled and Mione noticed that her mum's anger waned a bit. "Mione watched the match with me, she was fine."

"Hello, Astoria." Mione breathed a sigh of relief as her dad came over and shook hands with Astoria. "Thanks for keeping an eye on her. Sorry about your hat."

Mione glared at Virginia, who reciprocated. "Dad I didn't mean to, it's just that…"

"I know it's hard to keep the magic in, isn't it, Mione?" Astoria smiled at her Dad and he nodded. "Oh, there's Scorpius!"

Mione looked to see a tall, skinny teenager walk over in his Quidditch uniform and give Astoria a kiss. As they talked for a minute Mione compared him to her perfect man; he might be a little taller than Albus, but he had white-blonde hair, he was sweaty and kind of stinky.

"Good match, Scorpius." Mione's dad stuck out his hand and clapped Scorpius on the back.

"Thanks, Professor Muggle. Sorry about Hufflepuff."

Mione crinkled her nose. Scorpius' voice kind of wobbled up and down, going from high to low. She thought it sounded like one of the voice changing sweets from Uncle George's shop. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her Mum's angry face.

"Mione, I think…"

Luckily for Mione she never got to finish, as her Dad suggested a little private father-daughter time. After telling her stupid brother HR and stupid sister Virginia goodbye she waved at Minnie. Hopefully Minnie would fix it so Mum wouldn't be so angry when she got home.

* * *

Mione sat in the big green chair, her favorite place in her Dad's room at Hogwarts. She watched him putter about the room for a while, taking off his robe and putting on his nasty slippers before opening a window. Mione smiled as she knew what that meant, and also because it would help her get out of trouble because she could always tell her Mum.

Hank packed, lit the pipe and then stood next to the window. "You know the rule, don't tell your mum. Ok, now what's been going on? I understand you had a bit of trouble at school again, and then today at the Quidditch match."

"I hate Muggle school. Its pants."

"It's only for a little longer, Mione. You'll be here at Hogwarts before you know it."

Mione shook her head. "That's like a million years. I just get so angry because we have to do dumb stuff when I could be doing magic." She looked at her father and put on her best face. "Can we go to Ollivander's at Christmas? Please?"

"No, Mione, you and Minnie will go over the summer like every other new first year. We'll probably need to budget the day, actually, you and your sister plus the fact that we can hardly get your brother out of there once he steps foot in the shop…"

Mione didn't say anything and she watched her dad drift off like he always did. "You're doing it again."

"Oh, sorry." Hank took a puff off of his pipe. "And how exactly did you end up sitting with Astoria Malfoy today? Something about her hat?"

Her shoulders slumped. "I accidentally made Mrs. Malfoy's hat turn into a bird and it tried to fly over the pitch but she got her wand out and stopped it and Virginia yelled at me like she's Mum but she's not, she's just a big pain an'…"

"Ok, ok, I get the picture." Hank laughed. "Mrs. Malfoy wasn't mad, was she?"

"Nuh-uh." Mione sat up. "She was really nice, and told me that she hadn't seen me in a long time and that she knew me an' Minnie when we were babies."

After making sure his pipe was out Hank went over and sat on his desk. "That's right. Scorpius, the boy who came over to talk to her after the match is her son. I remember when Scorpius was born, Draco, his father, sent me a note."

"Why's she in that chair? And where was Mr. Malfoy?" She noticed her father's expression changed and it looked like it did when watched some old boring Muggle movies. "Dad?"

Hank took a deep breath. "When Draco and Astoria were living in New Orleans, in America, Astoria was ill. It was a new illness that they'd never heard of, and they tried a new potion. It got rid of the illness but it made her legs not work anymore. They changed the potion now, so it doesn't do that any longer, but she can't walk and has to use the chair. As for Draco, why he wasn't here…" Hank took off his glasses. "That's a very long and hard story. That will have to wait until another time. He'd like to be here but he can't, and…"

"And what, Dad?" Mione looked at her father, confused. "Did he get in trouble?"

"Um, yes, you could say that."

Before Mione could say another word there was a knock on the door. As the door opened Mione's heart leapt into her throat.

"Professor Muggle, Headmaster Longbottom wants to know if you're coming down to dinner. Said something about Muggle Club needs to move their meeting." Albus looked over and saw Mione sitting in the big green chair. "Oh, hey squirt, didn't know you were here. Crap match, wasn't it?"

Mione couldn't speak; she just nodded her head rapidly. There he was, perfect green eyes, perfect nose and oh that hair!

"Sounds good, Al. Tell him I'll talk to him later tonight. Having supper with Mione."

Al nodded and left. As soon as he closed the door Mione shut her eyes and imagined their wedding, both of them zooming down out of the sky on brooms coming to an abrupt stop where they would say their vows.

"Mione!" Hank shook his head. He knew of Mione's crush on Albus, obviously, and thankfully Al had always been very good to her. "Mione, look at me. I know you don't like going to Muggle school, but remember, Christmas is coming up. I'm not above bribing you because I know the other stuff doesn't work. When your mom gets mad at you I hear about it, and trust me, you remember the last time you were in big trouble with me, don't you? We don't want a repeat of that."

Mione slunk down in her seat, as she remembered very clearly the last time she was in big trouble with her dad. She and Minnie had been out in her dad's Muggle car, the little black one, but that time Mione had taken the keys from out of her dad's desk and tried to see if she could make it go. Making it go was easy but she couldn't make it stop and they had hit the corner of the shed, knocking out one of the windows. "Yes, Dad."

"Right, remember that." Hank put his glasses back on, always a good sign to Mione. "So, lady, what do you want to eat tonight?"

One of the best parts of coming to Hogwarts and visiting with her dad was the visit from Nonky. Mione gave him a big hug and kissed him on the tip of his nose like she always did, making the house elf smile. They had a special bond, as ever since she was little Nonky had helped her in many little ways. There was the time when he let her dress him up in the fairy princess clothes and jewelry her Aunt Candice sent her for Christmas, and the time the two of them made all the candy and didn't tell anyone, but they'd both been in trouble for that.

"Nonky, next year I'm going to be here at Hogwarts! Won't that be fun?" Mione was surprised to see Nonky wasn't as excited as she was. "What's wrong, Nonky?"

He rolled his fingers over and over, a sign he was nervous. "When Mistress Mione comes to Hogwarts Nonky will be working, Nonky can't do special things like Nonky can do at Colony House." He looked up at Professor Muggle and then back to Mione. "Professor Muggle says that when Mistress Mione is here Nonky has to treat you like all of the other students, just like Master HR and Mistress Virginia and Mistress Minnie when she comes to Hogwarts, Nonky will."

Mione hugged him. "That's ok, Nonky. We'll still have breaks and holidays. What's for supper?"

"Fish and chips, Mistress Mione's favorite, it is."

As usual Nonky declined Hank's invitation to stay and eat with them, so father and daughter started eating. Conversation turned, as usual with Mione, towards Quidditch.

"Dad, why does Hufflepuff play so defensively? They need to attack more."

Hank paused, chip covered with ketchup halfway to his mouth. "You sound like your godfather."

"Well he's right, even if he does support the Chudley Cannons. They're crap." Mione took a drink and immediately made a face. "Dad, this isn't pumpkin juice!"

"Ah, no, it's sweet tea. I forgot that Nonky always makes that for me. Blame your Grandma Karen and my Southern roots." He looked at his daughter, debating on whether or not to tell her. "You really, really hate Muggle school, don't you?"

"Merlin's pants, Dad, it's awful. Why can't we go to Aunt Lavinia's school like everybody else? I know, you grew up in the Muggle world, it'll help us understand Muggles, blah blah blah. But I'm not a Muggle, Dad, I'm a witch."

"Yes, yes you are sweetie. Ok, now you have to promise to keep this a secret. I'm only going to tell you if you don't say a word _and_ you promise to be good in Muggle school. Promise, promise. And if I hear of anything, Hermione, anything you'll…this will be worse than my car."

Mione nodded rapidly.

"Ok, now if you saw a word of this to your Mum she's going to lose it, but your godfather sent me an owl the other day. He and your godmother were asking about Christmas presents for the two of you. I'm not going to say what it is specifically, but let's just say it's something that you and Hugo like quite a bit."

Mione gasped, as she knew exactly what he meant. Whenever she and Minnie went over to the Weasleys Minnie and Rose always stayed inside with Hermione reading books and talking about dumb stuff, but she got to go with Hugo and Ron. Uncle Ron would take them to The Burrow and that's when the brooms would come out, not the toy brooms but the _real_ brooms. Uncle Ron was going to get her a real broom for Christmas?

"Like I said, Hermione, not a word." Hank shook his chip at her and then popped it into his mouth.

Mione sat at the little table in her father's room and soon became lost in dreams of flying on her very own, real, no Muggle could ride it Quidditch-ready broom. Now that was worth staying in Muggle school.


	2. An Argument with a Hat

**Chapter 2: An Argument with a Hat**

_2023_

Minnie looked over to her sister; Mione was once again changing her hairstyle. "Mione, what are you doing? It looked fine."

Mione turned around and made a face at her sister. "It's our very first day at Hogwarts. I don't want to be like everybody else." After turning back to the mirror Mione took the brush and decided that pigtails would be appropriate, but not the regular two; four would be better and especially if she used butterbeer corks. Ever since she'd seen Luna Scamander at one of her parents' dinner parties Mione realized she'd found her fashion inspiration. The witches in her mum's magazine were pretty, but they were just…boring. She quickly fastened the butterbeer corks at the end of her blonde pigtails and decided it looked sort of like Luna, which in her book was wonderful.

Minnie sat on her bed and sighed. "Mum will make you change it."

Mione rolled her eyes. "No she won't. She'll say something and then Dad will tell her to let me be. He'll tell me I look like one of those crazy Muggles in those bands he like and that will be the end of it."

Their older sister Virginia, already in her Slytherin robes, stuck her head in the doorway. "Where is it? What did you do with it?"

Mione and Minnie exchanged glances, confused. Mione turned to Gin and made a face. "What are you talking about?"

Gin's expression hardened. "You know very well what I'm talking about, my copy of _Teen Witch Weekly._ It was in my room yesterday and now I can't find it."

Minnie tucked a leg underneath her, looked quickly at Mione and then back to her older sister. "Is that the one that Lily's in?"

Gin shrugged. "I guess. I haven't even had a chance to read it yet."

Mione returned to the mirror and straightened a butterbeer cork. "Go ask HR. I bet he knows."

Gin started to say something and then stopped. After looking at Mione for a moment she shook her head. "You're probably right. He'll never admit it, though." Gin walked through the doorway and sat on Mione's empty bed. "Think he'll ever get up the nerve to say anything?"

That led to a discussion about their brother, specifically how it was obvious to absolutely everybody but HR and Lily that HR liked her quite a bit. Their Hufflepuff brother would have had a better chance if he would have been sorted into Gryffindor like Lily, the sisters decided, but even then the consensus was that he probably wouldn't say anything. It was then that the conversation morphed into a discussion on the houses of Hogwarts, specifically which houses the twins would be sorted into.

"I think we'll be in the same house. That's what the Sorting Hat did with the Weasley twins, right?" Mione looked over to Minnie, who nodded feebly. "Has the hat ever split up twins before?"

Gin shrugged. "I don't know, there aren't any twins in Hogwarts now."

"I can send an owl to Aunt Hermione." Minnie stood up. "Won't take me a minute."

"Sit down, you sound just like Aunt Hermione. Sometimes I think Mum and Dad gave you two the wrong names. 'Oh, let me send an owl.' Merlin." Gin rolled her eyes. "Like she's going to take time out from her job at the Ministry to answer your letter. She's a bit much. Besides, she's probably making Hugo read his textbooks so he can get a good start or something. I swear I've never known anyone as mental about school before."

"Well we're not going to be in Slytherin with you, that's for sure." Mione stuck out her tongue at Gin. "I think we're going to be in Hufflepuff." Almost instantly Mione realized that she'd left an opening for her sister Gin. "Like Mum and HR."

Gin stood up. "Good save. You just want to be in Hufflepuff because Al Potter was in Hufflepuff. I know about your picture."

The timing of the next few moments was unfortunate for Mione, because as soon as she heard Gin mention her now not-so-secret picture of Al Potter she threw her hairbrush at Gin, missed completely and hit her father in the shoulder as he entered the twins' room.

"Should I just tell Mr. Filch to expect you for detention tomorrow? Hank picked up the hairbrush and walked over towards Mione. "I don't want to know, just try and be good, your mom isn't doing very well today."

Mione took the brush from her father. "What's wrong with Mum?"

"We're going to Hogwarts, Mione." Minnie looked at her father, who nodded in agreement. "You know, the whole 'my little ones are all grown up' thing, like she did at the Potter's barbeque an' Aunt Hannah had to talk to her forever to get her to stop crying."

"Right, so please try to be good." Hank looked at his daughters and then back to Mione. "Especially you. Nice hair, by the way. Kind of…"

"Punk?" Mione smiled at her father. She knew his favorite things and had used her knowledge of his Muggle music to get out of trouble more than once.

"Well, it's definitely punk in spirit. You mom would go crazy if you actually had a mohawk." Hank's eyes went wide. "Forget I said that."

"Hey Dad, have they ever split up twins at Hogwarts?" Minnie looked worried. "Gin doesn't know, and I thought about sending Aunt Hermione an owl, but…"

"Not today, Minnie." Hank looked at his watch. "Ok, we're leaving in about twenty minutes. And to answer your question I have no idea. Hermione would probably know, but the only twins I know of that went to Hogwarts were the Weasley twins, and they were in Gryffindor. Whole family was, actually, but things are different now; just look at us. Gin's in Slytherin, HR's in Hufflepuff, and wherever you two are sorted will be fine." Hank looked at his watch again. "Ok, hurry up now, because we're taking the van up to Hogwarts today and it's a bit of a drive."

As soon as their father left Gin flopped down on her back on Mione's bed. "Merlin's pants, why do we have to take that awful thing? Why can't we just take the train like everybody else?"

"Well, Dad can't Apparate, we live too close to Hogwarts to take the train but too far away to walk and take our trunks, he's the Muggle Studies professor so it would be appropriate that we show up in the old VW and the Floo…"

"Minnie, it was a rhetorical question!" Gin sat up. "You two are making me mental. I'm going to go find HR and talk to someone at least somewhat mature."

"Like Scorpius Malfoy?" Mione's voice was teasing as she stared at her sister. "We heard you and HR talking; you've got a thing for Scorpius, don't you?"

Gin got off of the bed and walked to the door. "Scorpius and I are friends, that's it. I can have a friend who's a boy and not a boyfriend. Little kids, honestly. At least he's out of school now so he doesn't have to be at Hogwarts with gits like you."

Despite her father's warning Mione once again threw her brush at Gin, this time coming in direct contact with her sister's backside as she was walking out the door. Mione braced herself for her sister's retaliation, but instead she heard the worst thing possible in the Boyd house.

"MUM! Mione threw her brush at me! Come sort her out before I do!" Gin stuck her head back in the doorway and looked at Mione. "Remember what house I'm in, little sister."

* * *

Mione couldn't sink any lower as the old Volkswagen Van pulled up in front of Hogwarts. It was embarrassing enough to have to arrive with all of her family, their trunks tied to the top of the van, but on her very first day at Hogwarts? Luckily for her since her father was Professor Muggle they arrived before the Hogwarts Express arrived, giving her a bit of breathing space. As her father turned off the van she noticed a familiar face greet them, and then with his wand he began unloading the trunks off of the roof.

As the Boyd children exited the van Mione ran over and gave the man a hug, causing the last trunk to waver and fall to the ground with a thump.

"Uncle Neville, we're finally here!"

Neville Longbottom gave her a few pats on the back. "Yes, Mione, you're finally here. Now you know, of course, that in a few hours you have to call me Headmaster or Professor, correct?" Mione nodded, and Neville gave her a smile. "I like the hair. Very unique."

"Thanks!" Mione glowed. Her mother had said a few disparaging words about her hair but as expected her father had diffused the situation. "So what do we do now?"

"You and Minnie will wait here with me for a few moments until Professor Greene arrives, she'll take you down so that you and your sister can ride the boats like all of the other first years. Now you should say goodbye to your mum, she won't see you for a while."

Mione left Neville and walked around to the other side of the van where her mum was hugging Minnie. She stood there for a moment until her mum realized that she was nearby.

"Mione…" Melody Boyd held out her arms, and Mione gave her a hug. "Mione, remember what we talked about. Please don't try to do every spell you've read about, listen to your professors and try not to get into trouble."

Mione nodded. "And my broom?"

Melody sighed. "If you're allowed to try out for the Quidditch team and you pass your flying class…we'll see. I know your Uncle Ron can't wait to send it to you."

Mione knew she would pass her flying class easily; she'd been flying with her Uncle Ron for years now. He'd given her a used broom for Christmas and her mum had grudgingly approved but with the condition that the broom stayed at Ron and Hermione's house until Mione went to Hogwarts. "I'll be good, Mum."

Melody noticed that Mione's voice was very soft when she replied, something unusual for her daughter. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

Mione bit her lip slightly. "What if Minnie and I aren't together? Mum, what if we get sorted into different houses?"

"Then you'll both do well. Mione, it doesn't matter which house you're in. I know you'll do fine."

* * *

Minnie and Mione sat in a boat with a small boy who looked absolutely terrified of everything and a girl who wouldn't stop talking. When the girl was nattering on about something to Minnie, Mione took two of her butterbeer cork pigtails and stuffed the corks into her ears, which helped slightly. When they finally arrived at the gates of Hogwarts most of the students were murmuring excitedly, but Mione didn't share their enthusiasm; she'd grown up around Hogwarts, going to her father's room, eating special treats with Nonky and the house elves in the kitchens, talking to the portraits in Uncle Neville's office…it wasn't that thrilling. Hogwarts by itself wasn't the attraction for Mione, it was what was now going to happen in Hogwarts, the fact that she would be sorted and would finally, finally be able to use magic without getting in trouble.

Minnie was telling the girl who wouldn't stop talking about different parts of the castle when Professor Greene walked up and stood in front of them, quieting everyone.

"In a few moments we will go into the Great Hall where each of you will be sorted into your houses."

Mione tuned out, as she'd heard about this speech before from her brother and older sister, how the houses were your homes while you were at Hogwarts, points won and lost, blah blah blah. The Sorting Hat, though, that was the only thing she was interested in at the moment.

"Does it hurt? I heard it hurts." The terrified boy from the boat looked over at Mione. "Do know anybody that's been sorted?"

"Sure, lots." Mione shrugged. "My brother and older sister are here. It doesn't hurt. Gin tried to tell me that it would but HR, that's my brother, he's a sixth year now, he told her off."

Before the terrified boy could respond the doors to the Great Hall opened and Professor Greene led them into the rows and rows of older Hogwarts students. Mione looked around and saw Gin sitting at the Slytherin table with two of her roommates who had been over to Colony House and were awful to her and Minnie, and then a few steps further Mione saw her brother and his annoying roommates. The boys were even worse, as they didn't want to listen to her talk about Quidditch or do anything except talk about magic and girls.

It was while she was looking at her brother that she suddenly stopped, as she had run into someone, pushing them forward a step. When Mione looked up and saw who it was she was nervous. "Sorry, Aunt Cho."

Professor Cho Greene glanced down at Mione. "Mione, we're at Hogwarts now."

"Sorry, Professor."

Headmaster Longbottom stood up and gave a speech about sorting but all Mione could do was look at Professor Farnsworth walking towards the small stool in the center of the room as Petal Farnsworth was holding the Sorting Hat. The Sorting Hat sang its little song, but Mione and Minnie kept looking at each other nervously. As the first few names were called most of the students seemed to go to Gryffindor, but there were a few of the other houses. Suddenly Mione's attention was riveted to Professor Farnsworth, as she knew her time would be soon.

"Hermione Boyd." Headmaster Longbottom smiled at her as she walked forward towards the small stool. From the moment the hat was placed on her head everything went dark.

"Well, what have we here, one of Professor Muggle's youngest. Let's see, oh, there's cunning definitely. Slytherin, perhaps?"

Mione didn't say anything out loud but she thought "No, not Slytherin. They're gits like Gin."

"Gits? That's a very strong word, some of the best witches and wizards in the world have been in Slytherin."

"You can hear me?" Again Mione didn't say anything out loud, but spoke to the Sorting Hat with her thoughts.

"Of course I can, I'm the Sorting Hat! That's my job. Now if there are no more interruptions…"

"Not Hufflepuff. I don't want to be with Dad and HR."

"Young lady, I will have you know that I sat on your mother's head and placed her proudly into Hufflepuff!" The Sorting Hat's tone was rather stern. "Many great witches and wizards…"

"And I'm probably not smart enough for Ravenclaw."

This caused the Sorting Hat to pause. "Miss Boyd, will you allow me to do my job?"

"I guess Gryffindor, then, but what about my sister?"

"I am sorting you, not your sister!" The Sorting Hat's tone was almost angry. "I have been sorting students long before you were born, Miss Hermione Helen Boyd, daughter of Professor Henry Aaron MacDonald Boyd and Melodia Gwendolyn Bramble Boyd, and I sorted your grandparents and their grandparents before them."

"So you're old and know what you're doing. Ok, what about me?"

"This is the very first time a student has ever been this obtuse whilst sorting. You are somewhat foolhardy, brave enough to speak your mind and you obviously..."

"So Gryffindor, then?" Mione waited for the hat to respond. "Well?"

"_GRYFFINDOR!"_

The Sorting Hat was removed from her head and once again the lights of the Great Hall appeared in Mione's eyes. She glanced back at Minnie for a moment before heading over to the Gryffindor table, sitting at one of the open spaces at the end of the table. Lily Potter waved at her several seats down the table, but it was when she was hit with something she looked around angrily. After looking down and seeing it was a Canary Cream, Mione smiled. She leaned forward and saw Hugo Weasley waving at her.

Mione's attention was abruptly torn away from Hugo as she realized that Minnie would now be sorted. She crossed her fingers as Headmaster Longbottom said "Minerva Lane Boyd."

As the hat was placed on Minnie's head Mione crossed her fingers. All she could think was that Minnie had to be sorted into Gryffindor. The suspense began to gnaw at her as the Sorting Hat was definitely taking its time. She looked up to her father at the staff table and he simply smiled at her.

"_RAVENCLAW!" _

The Sorting Hat was removed from Minnie's head and Mione felt her stomach drop away as if she was flying with her Uncle Ron and he did some of his tricks. What would she do now?"

* * *

The first few weeks at Hogwarts for Mione were bittersweet. Yes, she was finally here and allowed to do magic, but Minnie was in Ravenclaw. Her roommates were nice enough, but it wasn't like was with Minnie. She'd always been with Minnie, always. She'd tried to talk to her father, to see if the Sorting Hat ever got it wrong, but he assured her that the Sorting Hat knew what it was doing. Minnie had been upset as well, as the twins sat together at breakfast, ignoring the usual House table etiquette. After discussing things Mione had found out that what had seemed like an eternity with the Sorting Hat on her head it had only lasted a few moments, but Minnie had a different story. Apparently the Sorting Hat was, well, out of sorts when it came to sorting Minnie, as it was still irritated from the argument that Mione had initiated. Minnie had calmed down the Sorting Hat and instead of telling the hat where she wanted to be placed she _asked _the hat where she should be sorted.

Mione found herself between classes sitting in the Gryffindor common room, looking out of the window at nothing in particular. It looked like it was going to rain and that wasn't a good thing, as she had flying class right after lunch. The sofa moved and Mione looked over to see Hugo sitting on the edge of the sofa, a large smile upon his face.

"What? Something funny happen, Hugo?"

"Got a letter from Dad this morning. Now you didn't hear this from me, but there might be a broom delivery soon."

"Don't tease me, Hugo. Mum said that until I passed flying class or made the Quidditch team I couldn't have a broom. Look at it out there; there's no way Madam Hooch will let us fly today."

"You don't know Madam Hooch very well yet, do you?" Hugo sat back. "She made us fly in the snow once when I took that class." Hugo's brows knitted for a moment. "Um, Mione, could you talk to your Dad about Muggle Studies?"

"No. It can't be that hard. Try reading the book or asking him about The Clash."

"Did that the first day. I think he's on to me. Oh Merlin."

Mione followed his eyes and saw what he was disgusted with; Lily Potter and her boyfriend Graham Kent walked through the common room, Graham's arm draped across Lily's shoulder. "What's he like, Hugo?"

Hugo looked over at one of his best friends' little sister who might as well be his little sister. "Ok, Hermione Helen, but you have to promise not to say anything."

"It's Mione, thank you very much. Hugo, you're a sixth year. If I said anything you know a load more spells than I do. I'd probably end up stuck in a suit of armor all night."

"Hey, that's a good one; I'll have to remember that." Mione snapped her fingers in front of Hugo's face. "Fine, keep your hair on. Kent? He's a load of hippogriff dung. I'm pretty sure he's been going out with other girls but I can't prove it. Not sure Lils would believe me if I told her." He narrowed his eyes at Mione. "You asking why I think you're asking?"

"Maybe." Mione looked at him for a moment. "It's obvious to you, isn't it?"

Hugo laughed. "I figure the whole bloody school knows. Your brother's a bit clueless about it, isn't he?"

"Completely, total Hufflepuff. Hugo, do you really think they'll send me a broom? And when are tryouts?"

"You are Quidditch mad, Mione. I swear you're worse than Dad sometimes, but at least you're smart enough to be a Puddlemere supporter. Tryouts are next week, so there may or may not be a delivery for you before then."

"Will you fly with me Hugo? When it gets here? So I can practice?"

Hugo nodded. "I promised you last summer, didn't I? Ok, one thing, have you told your Mum you want to be a Beater?"

Mione shook her head. "We haven't really talked about that."

"Well, take it one step at a time." Hugo watched a girl with dark blue hair walk by and then got up suddenly. "Um, see ya, squirt."

* * *

Mione walked slowly back towards her favorite spot in the common room, the large sofa directly in front of the fireplace. Besides the fact that it was the most comfortable sofa in the room and the warmest, it had another distinct feature; once you were in the sofa nobody could see you very easily. Taking full advantage of the best part of the sofa Mione threw herself down. Yes they told her that she'd probably make the team next year, and yes they said she flew like a natural but it just wasn't fair that those seventh years kept playing! They'd been on the team since their third year; they were hogging the spots! She sat up and quickly wiped away a tear. If she was going to be on the practice squad, well, she'd show them. They'd be afraid of her Bludgers.

It was while imagining specific, painful Bludger hits on the Quidditch team captain that somebody sat on Mione, causing her to yell. When she looked up to see who it was her eyes went wide; Lily Potter was crying, holding her face.

"Lily! What's wrong?" Lily shook her head, but Mione was not to be dissuaded. "Lily, did someone hurt you?"

"What happened?" A fifth year girl who Mione didn't know stuck her head around the sofa. "Potter! What the bloody hell?"

Soon a group of older girls surrounded Mione and Lily, asking questions one after the other. Lily wouldn't answer them until Mione put her hand on Lily's arm. "Don't tell Dad, but your mum taught me the bat-bogey hex this summer. Want me to do it?"

That broke Lily's resistance, and soon the story of Graham's mistreatment and HR's subsequent fight with Graham spilled out in a torrent. Mione listened as the girls debated what to do, but Mione had an idea. "I'm gonna go find Minnie and then we'll talk to Dad."

* * *

Mione sat with Minnie in an out-of-the-way staircase. It had been an eventful night. HR had to go to Uncle Neville's office, was in trouble for beating up Graham and Lily seemed to finally realize that HR _really _liked her. Besides that some of the older Gryffindor girls gave Mione compliments for how she acted on Lily's behalf. Even more exciting was that the twins had borrowed HR's owl and sent a letter to Al Potter, and he answered them back right away.

"We're going to be in trouble if we get caught." Minnie looked over to her sister. "We're supposed to be in our common rooms or in bed by now."

"We won't get caught." Mione smiled. "I have a secret weapon, I think. I'm not sure how it works exactly. Now you have to twin-promise me you won't say anything."

"Mione…"

"I got it from Uncle George. Al gave it to him after he left Hogwarts an' said he'd know what to do with it. You can't tell Lily and especially Mum and Dad. Mum would go spare. Twin-promise?"

"Hermione! You're going to get us in detention, or worse, we'll lose house points!"

"Whatever, Minnie, you Ravenclaws always win. Ok, remember the Potters barbeque, when Uncle George said he had something to show me?"

"Ok, I twin-promise. Mione are you talking about the trick glasses, the ones that when you try to drink out of them they shoot the stuff up your nose?"

"Well, yeah, he showed me that, but that's not what I'm talking about." Mione reached into her robe and brought out a folded piece of parchment. "Uncle George said that this was the start of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes an' it was appropriate for us because we're twins like him and his twin, Fred. Can you give me a bit of light?"

Minnie took out her wand and cast a very small _lumos_ spell, illuminating the parchment in Mione's hands and not much more.

"Right, watch this, Minnie." Mione took out her wand, tapped it on the parchment and said "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

To the twins amazement images and text began to swim into focus. When the words were plainly visible Minnie looked at the text and then to her sister. "Who are those people?"

"Uncle George didn't tell me anything except what to do with my wand and what to say. There's also a way to make it look like regular parchment when you're done."

Mione opened up the parchment and the girls gasped. An entire map of Hogwarts displayed, along with several dots that had names written above them. They saw their brother in his room in Hufflepuff house, their father in his room and Mr. Filch's dot way over in the other part of the castle.

"Mione! This is amazing! We can see where everybody is!"

Mione was entranced by the map, especially after seeing her sister Gin's dot in the Slytherin common room next to Jonathan Bliptern's dot. "Look, Minnie, she says she doesn't fancy him. They're practically on top of each other."

"Well, sort of, there's also two other girls there." Minnie pointed to the dots, ending a particularly entertaining line of teasing for Mione. "Oh no, Mione. Look!"

Headmaster Neville Longbottom's dot was moving rapidly in their direction. Mione took a look at the map and realized that they wouldn't have time to hide or leave before being found. Quickly she took out her wand, tapped the map and said "Mischief managed." The images on the map rapidly faded, leaving her holding the parchment when the footsteps ended right behind them.

"I do believe you know it's after curfew, am I right girls?"

Minnie and Mione, who were sitting on a step, looked up at Headmaster Longbottom, and if anything he looked even taller than usual. Mione winced. "We're sorry, Headmaster. We were talking about what happened with HR an' we lost track of time. Is he going to be in a lot of trouble?"

Neville motioned for the girls to stand up, and when they did he looked at them seriously. "Yes, your brother will be punished appropriately. I have to say that I'm disappointed in the two of you. You've been around Hogwarts long enough to know the rules, especially since your father is a professor. I'm not going to punish you because frankly it's been quite a day and after what happened with HR…" He ran a hand through his hair. "Please go to your rooms. The next time I won't let you off. Don't disappoint me again, girls."

After Neville left Mione and Minnie began walking towards their common rooms in silence. It was at the spot where their paths diverged that Mione finally was able to speak. "That was horrible. I think it would have been better if we'd been given detention or lost house points."

Minnie shook her head in agreement. "No wonder he's Headmaster. See you at breakfast."

As Minnie left to head to Ravenclaw house Mione stood still. She really wanted to try out the map again, but if she got caught again by Headmaster Longbottom, or worse, her Dad, she'd never hear the end of it. She'd have to write her Uncle George a letter tomorrow. He'd be able to explain things. After giving the Fat Lady the password Mione walked into the common room and started to head upstairs when she heard her name.

"Who's there?"

"It's me, Lily."

Mione saw her sitting with her legs tucked underneath in a large chair in the darkest corner of the common room. Mione walked over and sat down on the floor in front of her. "Are you ok, Lily?"

Lily nodded. "I am now. Thank you for everything, Mione."

Mione shrugged. "I didn't do anything, really."

"Yes, you did, Mione. I don't think I would have said anything and your brother…"

"He finally told you, didn't he?" Mione smiled at Lily. "It's about bloody time."

Lily laughed quietly and got out of the chair. She held her hand out to Mione, pulled her up and gave her a hug. "You are such a Gryffindor, Mione."


	3. Detention, Grades and Punishment

**Chapter 3: Detention, Grades and Punishment**

Even the fact that it was almost the end of her first year at Hogwarts, that all of the tests and homework were almost finished did not make Mione Boyd happy. As her breakfast was growing cold Mione looked at it with disinterest; it didn't matter what happened at today's Quidditch match, Gryffindor would win the Quidditch Cup and Ravenclaw would win the House Cup. Hugo had tried to cheer her up by making pumpkin juice squirt out of his ears but it didn't work. She could have been on the winning Quidditch team, her name on the trophy, a picture with her in it in the Gryffindor common room in uniform and holding her broom, but those bloody seventh years were going to do that. She glanced over her shoulder towards the Ravenclaw table and saw her sister Minnie was in the midst of the Ravenclaw pre-match craziness. The sight of Minnie laughing with her housemates only made Mione angry, as it was Minnie's fault that she'd had detention last week.

The detention itself wasn't that bad, puttering around with Mr. Filch and scrubbing the floor of the Potions classroom by hand, but it was the conversation with her father that was the worst part. That was when she found out that Minnie, her sister, _her twin_, had let the Ravenclaw prefect know it was Hermione Boyd who had snuck out of the castle and gone on an illegal, nighttime broom ride around the grounds. The meeting in her dad's room was horrible; he wasn't like her Mum who shouted turned red in the face, he was more like Headmaster Longbottom. She sat there in the chair in front of his desk while he kept going on and on about how she had to obey the rules, that it wasn't fair but she was a professor's daughter so her actions not only reflected badly on her but also on him, but mostly that he was "deeply disappointed" in her. He also reminded her that this was her fourth detention in her first year, and that her rule-breaking might seem funny to her Uncle George but he was not amused at all.

The eggs had grown cold on Mione's plate when she saw the unmistakable form of Calliope, her father's owl, enter the Great Hall with a letter. As soon as Calliope landed in front of Mione she knew it wouldn't end well as the envelope was a bright red color. She looked across the table at Hugo quickly and he grimaced.

"Better open it, Mione. They only get worse if you wait."

She grudgingly took the envelope from Calliope and the instant the letter left the owl it turned into the Howler she was dreading.

_Hermione Helen Boyd! I am so ashamed of you, breaking the rules again! I am going to have your father send your broom home because you are OBVIOUSLY not mature enough to have one at school! This is the fourth, the FOURTH detention you've received this year! I thought that being caught out of bed twice and transfiguring your brother's textbook into a pixie was bad, but this is even worse. You can forget about going to see Puddlemere this year, young lady, as you will be getting a summer job! Maybe working while your friends enjoy their summer will finally get it into your head that you have to obey the rules like everybody else! This is not over, not by a long shot. Merlin, girl, you wait until you get home, we're going to have a very long talk!_

The Howler ripped itself up leaving shreds of paper fluttering down all over Mione and her cold eggs. Every eye in the Great Hall was on her, she could feel it, leaving Mione no option except to shake her head and put her hand over her eyes. Mione ignored the laughter in the hall and entered her own little world, thinking of how wonderful it had been flying all over Hogwarts, over the lake and past Hagrid's house, the wind whipping her hair out straight over her shoulders. It was only after she felt a hand on her arm that she returned to the world of the Hogwarts Great Hall.

"I'm sorry, Mione. Maybe you could work for Uncle George?"

Mione looked over to see Lily Potter sitting next to her. "Thanks. Do you think he'd let me?"

Lily laughed. "After he hears about your detentions he'll probably hire you on the spot. You know how he is."

The conversation was abruptly interrupted by the cheering of the Ravenclaws as they followed their Quidditch team out of the Great Hall, heading for the pitch. When Minnie walked by Mione pointedly turned away and returned to her plate of cold eggs, pushing them away towards the center of the table. "Are you sitting with HR today, Lily?"

Lily nodded. "We're sitting on the Ravenclaw side. HR says it's his turn to support Minnie. I'm sorry, Mione."

"Fine. Then I'm sitting with Gin. I've had enough of the goody-goody Ravenclaws."

* * *

Mione's day got much better once she got to the Quidditch pitch, as when she walked there with Hugo and his latest girlfriend, who Mione thought was only slightly smarter than one of Hagrid's dogs, a familiar face appeared that sent a small thrill through her body. Albus Potter was here! She quickly left Hugo and his girlfriend and ran over to Al, surprising him with a combination of a hug and a tackle.

"Whoa!" Al turned around and saw Mione. "Mione! Hey squirt, how are you?"

"Bad, Al. I got detention again and Mum says I have to get a summer job. When'd you get back? Lily said you were in Ireland."

"Ready, mate?" A tall blonde walked over to Al. "Mum's ready to head up."

Al nodded. "Sure. Scorpius, you remember Mione, right?"

Scorpius nodded. "You're a lot bigger than the last time I saw you, when was that?" He squinted and then snapped his fingers. "Muggle Club party my fourth year, last year I took Muggle Studies. You and your sister got in trouble for something and your mum went spare. That was hilarious."

Mione's brows knitted and her mood darkened. She remembered that incident, her Mum wasn't happy when she found out that both she and Minnie had "borrowed" a love potion that Gin had somehow acquired from Uncle George's shop and tried to put it in Al's drink. "Well, I've grown up since then."

Al ruffled her hair. "Yeah, look at you, Gryffindor first year and all. Where are you sitting? Supporting Minnie's house today?"

Mione shook her head. "Minnie's being a git. I'm sitting on the Slytherin side." This was somewhat of a lie, as Mione had informed her roommates that she was sitting on the "we're not cheering for either side thank you very much" section, but Al's appearance had changed plan very quickly.

"Good, come on, we're heading up now." Al nodded his head towards the Slytherin side, and Mione soon found herself walking between two very tall former Hogwarts students, hoping everyone, especially her stupid twin sister, would be jealous. Her sense of accomplishment melted almost immediately when they reached their destination, as she finally realized that Scorpius was Scorpius Malfoy, son of Astoria Malfoy, the lady whose hat she'd almost sent out onto the Quidditch pitch the previous year. Mione tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible; maybe Astoria would forget what had happened?

Astoria Malfoy sat in her wheelchair at the bottom of the steps, hands folded placidly in her lap. "There you are, boys. Oh, you've brought someone else?" Astoria turned her wheelchair to face the newcomers. "Mione Boyd, oh, look at you, you've grown so much. Gryffindor, too…very well done. I'll have to remember to keep my hat secure today."

Mione felt the blood rush to her face and she wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground, but instead she nodded politely. "Hello, Mrs. Malfoy. I'm really sorry about the hat. I promise not to do anything this time."

Astoria smiled and waved it off graciously. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, dear." She looked at her watch and then over to Scorpius and Al. "I believe it's about time. Would you boys do the honors?"

Al and Scorpius took out their wands and began levitating Astoria's wheelchair up the stairs. Mione followed behind them, going slowly and with each step wondered how visible it would be to everyone at Hogwarts that she would be sitting with Al Potter. A small smile of satisfaction crept onto her lips as she realized that Minnie would definitely hear about it. Too bad she didn't have a camera to make sure she'd have proof and could rub it in. Once they had all found their seats Mione looked around and realized that her sister Gin was sitting with Jonathan Bliptern and several other Slytherin students. Gin would definitely notice that she was sitting with Al; she'd have someone else to back up the story and even Minnie knew that Gin wouldn't lie about something like that. Mione watched the teams begin their warmups and couldn't help but smile; this was going to be a great match.

Unfortunately for Mione things didn't turn out how she had planned. Al sat way on the other side, as Scorpius sat between them and she was stuck between him and his Mum. Al and Scorpius kept talking about Al's time in Ireland, his acting career as well as Scorpius' job with the Ministry in the Department of International Magical Cooperation without giving Mione a chance to say a word. Mione had finally worked up her nerve and was going to ask Al about Ireland when the match started and everybody focused their attention on the pitch. Al was never going to realize how beautiful and wonderful she was, even as a first year, if all he did was talk with stupid Scorpius bloody Malfoy.

"Don't let them bother you, dear, they're boys. It's just what they do."

Mione turned to see Astoria smile at her. Normally Mione wouldn't say much, but after the last few days, not to mention the Howler, she was angry. "But it's rude! They told me I could sit with them an' then they ignore me."

Astoria chuckled and patted Mione on the arm. "Scorpius and Al haven't seen each other for a while. Give them some time and they'll remember you're here. Until then, tell me, how has your first year at Hogwarts been? The last time I saw you, well, you were very anxious to be a student. Has it been everything you expected?"

Mione didn't even think about it; someone had finally asked her how things had gone and was interested in her year. A grown-up was asking what she thought instead of telling her that she was breaking a rule or doing something wrong, and it was like the dam had finally burst. She told Astoria about her mean twin sister, how Gin was generally obnoxious and how the Hogwarts rules were so unreasonable. A Seeker screamed by their seats in pursuit of the Snitch, and that brought her mum's Howler back into the forefront of her thoughts, as she told Astoria that it was completely unfair that her broom was going to be confiscated over the summer and she'd have to get a summer job. There was no way that she could make the Quidditch team next year if she couldn't fly over the summer and her mum kept her unfair punishment intact.

"A summer job, you say? Interesting." Astoria looked across the pitch towards the Ravenclaw side. "Is your mum here today?"

Mione shrugged. "Probably on Minnie's side. She sat with Gin on the Slytherin side when they played us."

"Hey Mione, I've got something for you. Give it to you after the game." Al leaned in front of Scorpius and smiled at Mione. "It's from James."

"Oh! Is it the new Puddlemere pennant?" Mione felt her mood immediately brighten; not only was James Potter a reserve player on Puddlemere United's team, but he was a Beater, just like she wanted to be. Uncle Ron said that James was one of the best Beaters that Gryffindor had ever seen, and even Uncle George had agreed. "Tell me now!"

Al laughed. "Fine, fine. It's the new Puddlemere jersey; they don't even have them in the shops yet. He said that it was a gift from one Beater to another."

"I figured you for a Harpies fan, on account of your Mum and all." Scorpius smiled at her. "You support Puddlemere as well?"

Mione nodded emphatically. "The Harpies are ok, but I've always like Puddlemere. Plus its fun to tease Uncle Ron about the Cannons. He and Hugo are batty about them for some reason."

Scorpius laughed. "Yeah, the Cannons are pants. Al tells me you're pretty good on a broom already. Going out for the team next year?"

A cheer went up from the crowd and everyone focused their attention on the pitch; the Seekers were screaming towards the ground but then pulled up and went into slow, lazy circles above the action, causing everyone to groan.

Mione rolled her eyes. "Seekers, always trying to fake each other out. Um, yes, I tried out this year but only made the practice squad. Stupid seventh years have all the Beater spots."

Scorpius nodded. "I didn't make Chaser until my fourth year, same problem. I kept telling Mr. Idiot over here he should have tried out but he never did." Scorpius elbowed Al, causing him to smack Scorpius playfully on the back of the head.

"What was that for, Malfoy?"

"For depriving the world of your Quidditch skills while at Hogwarts, you prat."

Al shook his head. "Never wanted to play in front of a crowd, that's James' bit. I like pickup Quidditch much better."

Scorpius looked at him and nodded. His face was calm and serious as he replied "Right, don't like crowds, so that's why you want to be an actor. No performance issues there, mate."

Before Al could respond the rest of the Slytherin side erupted into cheers, causing everyone to stop their conversations and look at the pitch. There, hand raised aloft on the bottom of the pitch stood the Slytherin Seeker, Golden Snitch held aloft for all to see. Mione smiled vindictively; Minnie's Ravenclaws might have won the House Cup but they lost this match.

Mione followed Al and Scorpius as they levitated Astoria down the stairs, but as soon as she could she said goodbye to the Malfoys, gave Al a hug and slipped out with all the other students before she could run into her family, especially her mum. Luckily her roommate Martha was close by, so she joined her in the walk to the castle. Just like the ride to the castle before they were sorted Martha talked the entire way, but after living with her a year Mione was used to it. In a way she was glad Martha kept up the steady stream of conversation as it meant that Mione didn't have to say much.

* * *

The next week went by quickly as everyone was studying for their final exams, and Mione was studying in the library by herself when Minnie stopped by and sat down without being asked. Even though she didn't want to hear Minnie's explanation her sister forced her to, and after hearing what had happened Mione quickly forgave her sister. When Mione had buzzed the castle Minnie had been walking with one of the Ravenclaw Prefects, and the Prefect had put Minnie in a terrible position; let the professors know what Mione had been up to or fail to live up to the Ravenclaw honor code. Mione realized that no matter what Minnie did someone would be mad at her, and Mione knew how much Minnie hated breaking the rules. After making up the girls rapidly discussed what had happened in their lives since the broom incident and Minnie expressed her jealousy at Mione's choice of companions at the Quidditch match. Eventually the conversation turned toward Mione's Howler and their mum's choice of punishment, a summer job for Mione.

"Lily said I might be able to work for Uncle George." Mione closed her Transfiguration textbook and leaned on the table. "Think he'd let me?"

Minnie shook her head negatively. "He might but Mum won't let you. You know how she says he's a horrible influence on everybody."

"Yeah, but look at where it's got him. He's the richest person in Britain, maybe even the whole world. Wow, think of it, Minnie, I could get a job there this summer and then keep working there over the summers and maybe I could go to one of the international shops. Merlin, I could end up in Paris or Moscow!"

"Mum wouldn't let you do it. She'd throw a fit."

Madam Pince stood in front of the girls' table with one hand on her hip and the other hand up to her lips and made a rather loud shushing noise. The Boyd twins looked at her and returned their heads quickly towards their books. As soon as she walked away Mione looked over to her sister.

"How old is she, anyway? Dad says she has to be like two hundred years old."

Minnie shook her head. "That's Dad. She is old, though. You ready for the Transfiguration test?"

* * *

Minnie and Mione sat at the breakfast table at Colony House, both of them nervous. The Hogwarts term had ended, they'd made it through their first year but the day they had been looking forward to and dreading simultaneously had finally arrived. It was the day that their grades would arrive. Mione was hoping for good grades in Transfiguration and History of Magic, but DADA was making her nervous. Even though she'd been around her DADA instructor as long as she could remember, the Petal Farnsworth that came over to her house on occasion was _much_ different than Professor Farnsworth that was tough as dragon hide in the classroom.

"Waiting for your doom, sis?" HR sat down at the table with a cup of tea. "I'm sure it won't be that bad." He looked at her and squinted. "It won't be that bad, will it?"

"Can you take me to Ollivander's? I promise I won't bother anything as long as you let me stay there all day." Mione smiled at her brother and gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "I'm sure I could help somehow."

HR laughed. "That's pathetic, really, it is. I'm sure you two will be fine."

"What's Lily doing today?" Minnie swung her legs back and forth underneath her chair, kicking her sister once to get her attention.

"Yeah, HR, what's Lily doing today?"

"Helping her Gran or her Uncle George, I guess." HR saw his mum walk into the kitchen wearing her robe, her hair all a mess. "Get ready, girls." He stood up, gave his mum a kiss and then Apparated out of the house suddenly.

Melody Boyd sat down at the table next to Mione and drank her tea. A few feeble attempts at conversation with her were waved off, and the twins relented and let her drink her tea in silence. After draining her first cup Melody waved over the kettle, poured another cup and looked at her daughters with a smile.

"Yes, I know owls are due today. As long as you promise me that you tried your best I promise I won't be angry. You did try your best, didn't you?"

Mione felt her stomach flip over at her mum's statement, as she knew she probably could have tried a bit harder on some of the classes, especially Potions. The classroom was so dank and depressing, plus the ingredients always smelled so horrible.

"Where's Gin?" Melody waved a tray of scones over to the table and began preparing one for herself. "Is she still asleep?"

Minnie shook he head. "She left a note on the mirror in the loo, said she was going to The Burrow to paint."

"Right." Melody nodded. "She mentioned that the other day."

The relative calm of the morning was shattered by the sudden appearance of a school owl at the kitchen window. Minnie sprang out of her chair and let the owl in, took the envelopes and almost sprinted back to the table. Melody took the envelopes from Minnie, continuing the tradition that began after Gin's second year when she tried to change a grade and got in trouble for using one of Uncle George's best sellers that year, fake grade cards.

Mione was on pins and needles as her mother opened Minnie's grades first. Melody's happy expression only compounded the uneasy feeling in Mione's stomach.

"Very well done, Minnie! Top marks all the way around! I'm so proud of you and I know your father will be, too!"

Minnie didn't stick around to her Mione's grades; she hurried off to their room so she could write her godmother Hermione. That left Mione at the table with her mum. She couldn't bear to watch so she closed her eyes tight, listening intently for a clue of how things might have turned out. Finally the suspense was overpowering and she peeked through one eye towards her mum.

"Hermione, it appears someone needs to buckle down and pay more attention to their studies instead of going off on illegal broom rides around Hogwarts."

"Bollocks!"

"Hermione Helen!"

Mione finally opened her eyes and, as expected, her mum's expression wasn't pleasant. "I'm sorry, Mum, I'll do better next year, Quidditch will help give me organization and…and…structure, yeah. Structure. Where's Dad?"

"Your father is still asleep, don't change the subject. I know DADA is not easy, but really, Mione? And Care of Magical Creatures? No wonder Hagrid seemed like he didn't want to talk to me the last time I saw him. What happened?"

"I might have accidentally killed all the flobberworms." Mione closed her eyes tightly. "I didn't mean to, but they're so bloody nasty…"

"Language, Mione." Melody shook her head in exasperation. "You're making me turn into my mum. Ok, let's look at the good side, then. Top marks in Transfiguration and Charms, a good mark in Herbology and top mark of the whole class in Flying. Yes, it's not on there, Madame Hooch spoke to me at the last Quidditch match. History of Magic, I don't understand how you, Minnie and HR manage it, that class always put me to sleep. Good to know Gin takes after me on that one, at least."

Mione sighed; it wasn't as bad as she thought and it was always a good sign when her mum started talking about when she attended Hogwarts. A small wave of relief passed over her; if her mum was this happy with her grades she'd probably forget about the summer job.

"I'm glad to see some of these grades are quite promising. You know, Mione, we expect you to bring your other grades up next year _if _you want to play Quidditch. Now, about your summer job."

Mione's eyes went wide. "Job! Nobody else has to work this summer! HR only does it because he wants to and weird old Mr. Ollivander lets him, Gin gets to paint and Minnie's just…"

"Yes, and they didn't have four detentions this year, did they?" Melody tapped her finger on the table. "Did they?"

Mione lowered her head. "No, Mum."

"That's what I thought. Have you given any thought to what you'd like to do this summer for your working punishment?"

Mione racked her brain for something that her mum would approve of, but didn't come up with anything right away. After giving up she looked at her mum. "I thought I might work for Uncle George in one of his shops."

"Merlin, no!" Melody shook her head. "I want you to learn detentions are not a good thing. And despite what George Weasley says they are decidedly _not _a good thing. I figured that you wouldn't have an idea, so I have two options for you. Once you've decided we'll go from there."

"Is Dad…"

"Your father and I have already discussed it and he agrees with me. Do you want to know your choices?"

Mione felt as if a dragon had just sat on her. The summer was going to be horrible. "Ok, what are my choices?"

"I've spoken to your Aunt Lavinia. They need some additional help with the two-year olds and the small ones at her school. It would be from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon, Monday through Friday."

"Would I have to change nappies?" Mione wrinkled her nose at the thought of stinky nappies and baby vomit.

"I'm sure that would be part of it."

"What's the other one?"

Melody adjusted her glasses. "You'd be cleaning and doing other household chores for someone. Nine to four Tuesday through Friday."

"There aren't any nappies in this job, are there?"

"No, no nappies. I take it you'd prefer this position?"

Mione nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to have to deal with stinky baby nappies. When would I start?"

"I think this morning would be perfect." Melody looked over at her daughter; it wasn't easy, being a parent. She really hoped that this would be the option that worked out. "Do you want to know who you'll be working for?"

"It's not Uncle Harry's office, is it?"

That made Melody laugh. "Bloody hell, I want to learn something, not permanently put you off cleaning for the rest of your life. No, Mione, I think your Uncle Harry's office is beyond any of us. You'll be assisting Astoria Malfoy at Malfoy Manor. Besides the cleaning she's working on a few other projects. You can thank her for the job when you see her, it was her idea. Mentioned your Howler when you sat with her at the Quidditch match, didn't you?"

"What'd I miss?" Hank stood in the doorway in his robe, what was left of his hair was sticking out crazily and he was in definite need of a shave. "Oh, grades came, didn't they?" He sat down at the table next to Mione. "How bad was it? Should I send you off to Azkaban and save everyone the trouble?"

Mione rolled her eyes and leaned into him. "No, Dad. I do have to work, though. I'm going to help out Mrs. Malfoy."

Hank quickly exchanged a glance with his wife, and Mione thought that both her parents had to stifle smiles. As she left the table to get ready for her brand new job she was convinced that regardless of what people said, especially the kids in Muggle Club, her parents were the weirdest people on the face of the earth.


	4. It Continued With a Promise

**Chapter 4: It Continued With a Promise**

_June 2025_

Mione Boyd arrived at Malfoy Manor at nine in the morning, just as she had every day for the last two summers. She smiled as she headed towards Astoria Malfoy's favorite room, the brightly lit sitting room; it was the little joke that always made her laugh, her "summer job" helping Astoria. Astoria had confided in her that first summer that it really wasn't much of a job in regards to work, it was more of a way for Astoria to have company and to help keep Mione in her mum's good graces. Mione did have to work somewhat, helping Astoria on her family history project that had been going on for years when Mione arrived that first summer, and she did do odd jobs around the new wing of the manor, but for the most part she visited with Astoria. It was during those conversations that Mione realized that Astoria had wanted more children, and a daughter, but it wasn't to be.

When Mione was almost at the entrance to the sitting room she heard voices and stopped by the door; she didn't mean to eavesdrop, instead she didn't want to walk into a private conversation like she'd done the year before. That was mortifying, as Astoria and Draco Malfoy had been talking about their finances, something she knew Draco Malfoy would definitely _not_ wish for her to hear. She'd walked in the door just as Draco had informed Astoria that their investments in America were coming to fruition, causing both Malfoys to look at her in shock. This time Mione waited at the door, hoping to hear something harmless like dinner plans, but when she heard Scorpius' name she stood stock still.

"Draco, you have to use your influence, keep him here in England." Astoria's voice quavered. "We can't lose him. He's all we have."

"I understand your feelings, dearest, but it's out of my control. He's with the army now; even the Minister of Magic wouldn't be able to modify his assignment. The Weasley boy is in the same situation; you are aware of how much influence the Weasleys have, don't you?"

"But Draco…"

"I'm sorry; I cannot do anything to change the situation. He's of age and he enlisted of his own free will. I understand his reasons. Surely, given the sordid past of the Malfoy family you understand?"

Mione waited breathlessly for Astoria's comment, but none was forthcoming. She waited a few seconds and opened the door as loudly as possible, saying "good morning" in a very bright tone.

"Good morning, Mione." Draco sat on one of the chairs opposite of Astoria. "Here for your appointed allotment of back-breaking work?"

Mione smiled at him, as she understood Draco's sense of humor. "Yes, I am. The Healers are on standby." She sat on one of the chairs next to Astoria, who was seated on the sofa, and gave her a big smile. "What's on tap today, Mrs. M?"

Draco stood up, levitated Astoria to her wheelchair and then kissed his wife on the cheek. "I believe that is my cue to depart. Until later, love."

After Draco left the room Mione watched Astoria take out a small handkerchief, turn away and dab at her eyes briefly. Mione knew she should say something to comfort Astoria but she had no idea what to say. Instead of doing anything she simply sat there and waited. After all, she was only thirteen, what could she say to make an adult feel better when it was something so enormous as having her only son go off to war?

"I'm sorry, Mione. I apologize. It's just...as I'm sure you know Scorpius has enlisted in the army. This whole wizarding war is beyond anything I ever thought possible. Of course, you know all about that with your father, the troubles he had when he arrived at Hogwarts. Oh my, I'm rambling. Forgive me."

"It's ok, Mrs. M. I know all about it, that's one of the reasons that HR and Lily got married; she didn't want him to get drafted. My godmother's the same way about Hugo."

Astoria nodded and said nothing. She put her hand to the locket that she always wore around her neck and looked out the window for few moments. She sighed deeply, and after recovering her composure she turned and looked at Mione. "Enough of that topic, please. Mione, is the weather supposed to be nice today?"

Mione nodded, wondering what she had in mind. Astoria had never had her work on the grounds, that was the domain of the house elves. "Uh-huh, it's supposed to be nice today. Well, that's what _The Prophet_ said, anyway."

"Very good. I believe dusting is in order today." Astoria smiled as Mione's shoulders shrank. She knew how much Mione hated doing actual housework. "Yes, dusting is the thing for today. You know, those brooms out in the storage building are much too dusty. I think you should make sure that they're clean and fly correctly."

Mione's dread immediately faded away and she went over and hugged Astoria. Astoria patted her arm and then shooed her off. As Mione left the Manor and went out towards the storage building Astoria wheeled her chair over to the large picture window. As soon as Mione had a broom out on the grounds she was up as quickly as possible, hair streaming out behind her.

"Does Mistress Malfoy care for tea?"

Astoria turned and nodded at Blink, her elderly house elf. Almost instantly he was back with the tea, and after he handed it to Astoria he stood alongside his mistress and watched Mione Boyd streak across the grounds on Draco Malfoy's old broom.

* * *

Mione was circling high above the grounds of Malfoy Manor when out of the corner of her eye she saw something moving in the air; it was larger than a bird and heading towards her at a rapid pace. She wheeled around to get a better look and felt somewhat better when she realized it was someone on a broom, but who was it? She took the broom down lower and hovered for a while until she could make out that it was Scorpius Malfoy on a broom. Mione stayed in a hover until Scorpius' broom came level with hers.

"Hey squirt, flying on the job?" Scorpius smiled at her but quickly changed his expression when he saw Mione's face. "What's wrong?"

"Don't call me squirt. I'm getting taller." She folded her arms across her chest. "Al can call me that but not you."

"Right, right, don't get your knickers in a twist, sorry." Scorpius hovered in front of her and cocked his head. "So Mum's having you ride a broom today? Some job."

"Yes, she told me that I'm dusting today and said to start with the brooms." Mione shrugged and then smiled. "She knows Mum doesn't want me on a broom as much as I need to be to get better. I'm on the Quidditch team now."

Scorpius nodded appreciatively. "Nicely done. You're in…"

"Third year. I was on the practice squad last year until Geoff Whippington's parents made him quit because he almost got expelled. Only played a half season but this year I know I'll make it."

"Good for you. Beater, right?"

Mione nodded. "You don't have any bats or Bludgers, do you?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. I was a Seeker."

"Aren't you too big to be a Seeker?"

"Not back then." Scorpius laughed. "I've grown since I've left Hogwarts."

"Well, Mr. Former Seeker, you're supposed to be fast, right?" Mione smirked at Scorpius. "Wanna race?"

For the next half hour or so Scorpius and Mione sped across the grounds of Malfoy Manor, each of them as low on their brooms as possible, wind whipping around them as if in protest of the speed. Finally Scorpius pulled up and began to descend to the ground in a series of slow, lazy circles. Mione followed suit, meeting Scorpius at the storage building.

"Felt good to get out on a broom; don't know the next time I'll be able to do that." Scorpius put his broom on the shelf towards the back of the building. Mione handed him Draco's broom and he placed it alongside his own. "Can you keep a secret, Mione?"

Mione's eyes widened. "Um, sure."

Scorpius leaned against the wall. "Don't know exactly why I'm telling you except that I can't tell Mum and Dad or they'll go mental, I've already had Mum crying all the time. I guess I need to tell somebody. Promise you won't say anything? Promise?"

Mione shook her head rapidly. "I promise."

"And you'll give up Quidditch forever if you say anything?" Scorpius watched her face for any sign of hesitation but didn't see it. "Ok, I'm being shipped out in three days. I don't know where I'm going and even if I did know I couldn't say anything." He looked at his watch briefly. "Let's start back to the house. I have to report in a few hours from now."

The two of them walked back towards the Manor in silence before Mione couldn't stand it any longer. "Why'd you enlist? Lily an' HR got married because she didn't want him to get drafted. Why?"

Scorpius glanced over at her and continued walking, his eyes intently watching the ground ahead of each step. "You know about my family, more than most. You know what people have said, how they treat my parents, especially Dad. When people hear 'Malfoy' they think of my grandfather Lucius, the horrible things he did, the horrible things that happened in the old part of the Manor, not to mention what happened to Dad. He's worked his whole life to change that perception. I had to go through a lot of things at Hogwarts. If it wasn't for Al Potter and Hugo Weasley I'm not sure I would have stayed, honestly. I want to change that perception, Mione. I'm doing all I can for the cause. Your Dad knows how those people who think Muggles and Muggleborns are less deserving of basic human rights. I'm nineteen, what am I going to do, push parchment in the Ministry when there's a war?"

"War hasn't started yet." Mione looked at him, hoping her optimism would help.

"It's just a matter of time." Scorpius stopped by one of the trees on the grounds, reached up and pulled off a leaf from a low hanging branch. "Mione, I know how well you and Mum get on, would you do me a favor while I'm gone?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Stop in and check on her, every now and then. Write her letters. I'm not sure if and when I'll be able to write when I'm gone, so I don't know if she'll have much contact. It does her good, you coming over and pretending to work in the summers."

Mione put her hands on her hips. "I will have you know that I do work. I re-shelved all the books in the study, organized them and I've helped your Mum on her family history project."

Scorpius held up his hands. "Right, right, sorry. Just keep in touch with her, for me? Dad's so busy with everything and you know he gets busy with stuff and loses track of time."

"Sure, Scorpius. I'll write her as often as I can."

Mione entered the Manor by herself; Scorpius had to leave to make his meeting. Mione figured it was something with the army, some orders or something, and she was trying to figure out what it was when she walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. After taking a glass from the cupboard she was aware that someone else was in the kitchen.

"Oh, Mrs. M, you surprised me."

Astoria's wheelchair sat in the doorway. "I apologize, Mione. I gather you and Scorpius removed all the dust from the brooms?"

Mione returned Astoria's smile and walked over towards the kitchen table. She sat in the chair next to the open spot where Astoria's wheelchair went. "Yeah, I don't think there's any dust on those brooms anymore."

Astoria wheeled herself towards the table, and upon arriving she pulled out a letter from the small pocket on the side of her wheelchair. "While you were dusting this came for you. I believe it's from your mum."

Mione groaned and took the letter from Astoria. After scanning though it she rolled her eyes and tossed the letter onto the table. "Well, looks like I'm done for today. Merlin, I have to go get fitted for a bloody bridesmaid dress for HR and Lily's wedding. I don't even know why they're doing it, they're already married!"

"I believe it is so all of the families and guests can be present. Mione, listen to me, dear. It's important to have family around at those times, at those occasions. Those are the things we remember all of our lives. Think how Mrs. Potter and your mum felt when they found out that Lily and your brother ran off and got married. Lily is their only daughter, and HR is your parents' only son, how do you think they felt when they realized they'd never see that special moment? Family is so important, Mione, especially during times like this." Astoria sighed and looked towards the window for a moment. "Mione I know Scorpius will be leaving soon. He hasn't said anything to me, but I can tell. A mother can tell. Yes, he's a grown man now and will make his own decisions, but he'll always be my little boy. I worried about him when he went to Hogwarts, another Malfoy going to Hogwarts after everything that happened with Lucius, Draco and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named…there were many nights that I don't think I slept; I waited for Scorpius' owl. Now there are much worse things than the cruelty of schoolchildren, now a war is coming and coming soon. We will all be caught up in the war in one way or another, and my only son will be out there."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Mrs. M." Mione said it quickly, hoping that it would help soothe Astoria's worries. "He was really good at DADA, wasn't he?"

Astoria laughed. "Actually no, he never had the desire to learn in that class. I'm afraid he'd heard too many stories about his father. He's much more of a book person, takes after me in that regard. Although his father has become a voracious reader after leaving Hogwarts, and when we moved to New Orleans…" Astoria looked at Mione's worried face. "Oh my dear, I apologize, I shouldn't be troubling you with all of this. You have your third year ahead of you, not to mention Quidditch, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." Mione nodded. The two witches sat in silence for a while until Mione looked up at Astoria. "I think I understand what you mean about family an' the wedding. But do I have to go right away?"

Astoria looked at her watch. "I believe there's time for lunch first. Can't send you away with an empty stomach, can I?"

* * *

Mione arrived at The Burrow with her Mum as everybody else had already arrived. When Mione made it to Colony House via Floo her mum was in a bad mood as she had expected Mione immediately after receiving the letter, not after Mione and Astoria had lunch. The only think keeping Mione out of trouble was that Astoria sent a note along with Mione informing Melody that she had asked Mione to stay for lunch. Mother and daughter walked briskly towards the garden of The Burrow and Mione hurried to keep up.

"There you are, just in time." Molly Weasley sat on a chair next to Rose, both of them with fabric and other sewing implements in their hands. "Come along, Mione, your turn, dear."

Mione walked over and stood in front of Molly and Rose, and her prominence in front of everybody finally caught Melody's attention.

"Hermione Helen! You wore that over to the Malfoys?"

Mione shrugged her shoulders and turned towards her mum, but Molly reached out and made her straighten up. Mione looked over her shoulder. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Melody adjusted her glasses. "You're wearing an old Puddlemere jersey that has a hole in the elbow, that's what! Honestly, Astoria Malfoy must think…"

"I'm sure she thinks that Mione loves Quidditch." Molly glanced over to Melody briefly, causing Mione to relax. "Besides, her job is to help clean among other things, so there's no need to wear nice clothing. Turn please, Mione."

Mione turned around so she was facing away from her mum and everybody else, and it was then she noticed her godmother walking towards them.

"You'll look lovely, Mione." Hermione walked up to Mione and gave her a small smile. "I'm sure you'll look very lovely."

"Thanks." Mione smiled at her godmother and then nodded her head quickly, suggesting that Hermione lean forward. "Just tell Mum not to make my hair look weird."

Hermione stifled a laugh, as her goddaughter's opinion of "weird" was quite different from other people. "I'll try, but she might make you look normal. This is your brother's wedding, you know."

"There. All done, Mione." Molly patted Mione on the back. "Just try not to grow too much over the next week."

Mione let out a large, thankful sigh and sat down on the grass. "What else do I have to do? De-gnome the garden? Scrub something? Polish anything?"

Rose laughed at Mione's comments which earned her somewhat dirty looks from all of the other women. She put her sewing items on table between her chair and her Grandmum's and stood up. "Come on, Mione. Everybody else is inside. Let's let the big wheels take it from here."

As Mione and Rose walked into The Burrow it was obvious that everybody else remotely involved with the wedding was there, except those that absolutely couldn't get out of work. Hugo sat playing wizard's chess with HR; Lily, Gin and Minnie sat looking at magazines and Arthur Weasley and her father had some Muggle thing on the kitchen table. The item looked like it had been covered in grease and grime, but at least Arthur or Hank had the presence of mind to put it on top of old, spread out _Daily Prophets_.

Mione looked around quickly and turned to Rose. "Where's Al?"

Rose shrugged. "It's Al, who knows. Ireland, Wales, he could be in Argentina for all we know. Some acting thing, probably. He's going to be back for the wedding, though. Can you imagine what Aunt Ginny would be like if he missed it?"

"Eeek, that would be horrible." Mione shook her head.

"No, that would be amazing. Finally the good boy gets in trouble." James walked in with an apple in his hand, ruffled Mione's hair and sat down. "Nice jersey, Mione."

"Thanks, James. Mum didn't like it, though. It's got a hole in it." Mione and Rose followed James and sat down on the sofa after saying hello to everyone else. "Mum flipped out, as usual."

"Well, have to get you a new one, then." James reached his arm around Mione and flicked Rose in the ear. "So who's my date to the wedding? Do you know?"

"No, James. Stop it, you prat." Rose rubbed her ear. "Wait, I'm getting a vision." Rose stuck out her hands, waved them slightly and made a low moaning noise as she wobbled her head back and forth. "She's tall, very tall, brown eyes…oh yes, she's a troll. You two will look lovely in the pictures."

"Ha, ha, nice one Trelawney." James took a big bite of his apple.

A window opened from the outside, and shortly thereafter Ginny Potter's head came through the window and slightly into the house. "Lily, girls, can you come outside? Mum wants to check something."

Lily rolled her eyes and stood up quickly. "Yes, Mum, of course Mum, we can't wait!"

Ginny looked at her daughter sternly. "You are married now but that doesn't mean I can't…"

"She'd love to, Mum." HR stood up and walked over to the window. "I know for a fact that Lily and the girls would love to help."

"Suck up." Ginny smiled at HR and then turned to Lily. "It's a good thing your husband has brains. Come along, girls."

Mione followed the girls outside, taking the opportunity to stand next to Minnie. She looked over at her twin and stuck her tongue out slightly on the right side of her mouth, and Minnie nodded and touched her ear briefly. Mione noticed her older sister Gin look at them for a moment and then turn away. When they got outside and were in line as they would be at the wedding Minnie leaned over.

"What's up? You haven't used the old symbols in a while."

Mione smiled. "I think Gin might be on to us. Do you know who Al is bringing to the wedding?"

Minnie shook her head. "No clue. James doesn't know, I asked him, and Lily is too irritated at her mum to be any help. Why? Applying for the job?"

Mione elbowed Minnie. "Duh, of course. Just think of it, a picture of me and Al at a wedding, I'm sure that…"

"Mione, pay attention, please!" Melody stood next to Ginny with her hand on her hip. "Honestly, is this how you act in school?"

Under her breath Mione muttered "Bloody hell" and turned towards the direction she was supposed to be in.

Molly walked down the line of the girls, looking at their heights, stopping when she got to Minnie. "I believe your sister is actually taller now, Minnie. How about we switch you and Mione, dear? Will that be ok?"

Molly looked to Lily, who simply pointed to Ginny.

"Its fine, I don't mind." Minnie stepped out of the line and moved to the end, moving Mione next to Rose.

Mione shook her head and leaned over to whisper to Rose. "I feel like one of your Dad's chess pieces." When Rose didn't respond Mione tapped her on the arm, but Rose stood very still. "Rose? Rosie? You ok?"

Rose didn't respond, but a few seconds later she took a deep breath and looked quickly at Mione. "Oh, Mione, um, sorry. What was that?"

"Rosie! You had one, didn't you? You had a vision! What was it? Was it me marrying Al? It was, wasn't it?" Mione bounced on the balls of her feet. "That had to be it…or wait, was it me winning the Quidditch Cup? Tell me!"

Rose shook her head. "That wasn't it, Mione. Never you mind. They don't always come true."

"You did have one, I knew it!"

"Hermione Helen Boyd!" Melody walked over and stood in front of her daughter. "I know it's horribly difficult for you to follow a simple direction such as standing still, so how am I to expect you to behave at your brother's wedding?"

"Mel, she'll do fine."

Mione exhaled as her Dad came over and put his hand on her Mum's shoulder. She could always count on her Dad to calm her Mum down. "Sorry Mum. I'll be good, it's just that Rosie…"

"Honestly, I could care less if Rosie saw…well I don't care what Rosie saw. You will please pay attention for ten minutes." Melody shook her head and walked off towards Ginny who was in the midst of giving Lily a stern talking to.

"Just humor your Mom, Mione." Hank stepped forward and looked at the twins. "That goes for both of you. She's going to be like that until the wedding's over."

"I heard that!" Melody's voice echoed across the garden.

Gin laughed. "Guess we'd all better behave. You too, Dad."

* * *

Luckily the massively important bridesmaids activities were finished soon thereafter and Mione and Minnie sat out underneath a tree. Neither of them talked much, their minds were elsewhere. Both of them, however, were inadvertently thinking about the same thing, the war. Minnie was thinking of the conversation she'd had with her godmother Hermione about Hugo's enlistment while Mione was thinking about Astoria Malfoy, specifically about how her only son was going to be off to war soon. Minnie was reading _Transfiguration_ _Today_ while Mione lay on her back, looking up through the leaves of the tree towards the sun, relishing the warmth. It was only when a shadow covered her face that she looked up.

"Hey squirt, want to ride?" James Potter stood a few feet away, two brooms in his hands.

"Sure, and don't call me squirt." Mione stood up and took the broom from James.

"Why not? Al calls you that." James cocked his head at her, waiting for the answer even though he knew the truth.

"You're not Al." Mione stepped across the broom handle and lifted up into the air.


	5. Quidditch and Letters

**Chapter 5: Quidditch and Letters**

_2026_

Mione Boyd stepped out of the Gryffindor Common Room, ignored the glares from the sixth year girls, walked through their little conversation and headed down the hallway. So what if she'd lost ten points from Gryffindor for being caught out of bounds in the Forbidden Forest? She hadn't gone that far into the trees, just far enough to have a little privacy. Yes, it was after hours. Yes, she wasn't supposed to be on her broom. Yes, she'd already been warned about it by her head of house. It was unfair; since her Dad was a professor everybody thought she was supposed to be all goody-goody, but that was Minnie and HR. At least Gin did something wrong every now and then, even if it was on a small scale.

After making her way towards the headmaster's office she stood in front of the door for quite some time. Not only did she not know the password, but going up to Uncle Neville's office for detention was not something she was looking forward to one bit. The map that George Weasley had given her worked wonders when she was in the castle, but out of the castle? Not so much. Now she would have to sit and endure that horrible disappointed tone that Uncle Neville used when he was Headmaster Longbottom.

"Good to see you are on time, Miss Boyd." Headmaster Longbottom walked up to the door carrying a plant with bright blue leaves. "Showing up late for detention would only make things worse."

After the password was given the door slid open and Mione followed the headmaster into his office. He pointed to a chair in front of his desk, sat the plant on a shelf and turned to her. After a series of deep breaths he sat down in his chair, put his hands together and looked at Mione.

Mione stared at the floor, waiting for Headmaster Longbottom to say something. Finally when she couldn't take it any longer she looked up to find him tapping his finger on his chin. "Mione, I though we covered all this earlier this year. You know the rules, probably better than most students. I would blame George Weasley but as I understand it you only worked in his shop for one day."

"That wasn't my fault." Mione rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean for that to happen, it was an accident."

"Yes…but from what I understand he had to close down the shop for the afternoon to let the fumes out. That's not why you're sitting in front of me, though, is it?"

Mione looked down at her shoes. "No, Headmaster."

"Mione, look at me." When she complied Neville continued. "Mione, I was in Gryffindor as well. I know that sometimes it is hard to comply by the rules, but they exist for a reason. Do you know what is currently happening in the Forbidden Forest?"

Mione shook her head. "I was just trying to get some privacy."

"Exactly." Neville sighed. "Mione, right now new centaur foals are being born in the forest. You know how centaurs value their privacy, but now, with the foals? There is a reason that no one alive has ever seen a female centaur. They wouldn't hesitate to protect their young, even from a fourth year student such as yourself."

"Oh."

"Exactly, Mione. Now, what to do with you? I understand you've returned to working for Astoria Malfoy over the summer, cleaning and the like. Perhaps we'll utilize those skills." Neville took out his wand and conjured a feather duster. "This will expand as needed for your work this evening. I think all of the portraits here in the office need a bit of cleaning. I have to discuss some things, specifically with your father, about your behavior here at Hogwarts. I will return momentarily, and I expect to see some progress. While you're dusting, perhaps you can ask some of the former headmasters what your punishment would have been when they were in charge of Hogwarts."

After Neville left Mione took the feather duster off of his desk and looked around. With all of the portraits in the office it would take her all night to clean everything! She looked at the duster and laughed; she hadn't completed any actual housework for Astoria Malfoy in ages. After peeking towards the portraits she was happy to see that several of the headmasters were not in their frames and others were sleeping. Maybe it would be easier than she thought.

Luckily for Mione most of the headmasters in the portraits were asleep, indifferent or absent. She let out an audible sigh of relief when she realized that Headmaster Snape was not in his portrait, that Headmaster Dumbledore was absent and the others weren't paying attention. When she got to Headmistress McGonagall's portrait, however, she wasn't so lucky.

"Miss Boyd, I take it that our talks have had no effect?" In her portrait Minerva pursed her lips. "I must say your mum was not very happy."

Mione's shoulders drooped and the duster hung lifeless at her side. "Mum knows?"

"Indeed. I believe you should expect a Howler tomorrow. In my day you would have been thrown off the Quidditch team." Minerva tried to stop a small smile but was unsuccessful. "Perhaps not that, you do play for Gryffindor."

"If she was in Slytherin I would have broken her broom in front of her and sent her to the dungeons!" A male voice rang out from the opposite wall of the office. "Even if I was head of house!"

Mione walked over to where the voice came from and found herself in front of an old man in severe, dark robes. His portrait was rather severely painted, and after meeting his eye momentarily she looked at the small, gold plate at the bottom of the frame. "Oh, I know who you are! I've read about you!"

"Yes, just now on the plate. Clever. What's your name, girl?"

"Hermione Boyd."

"Boyd, Boyd…is your father…"

"My dad's Professor Muggle."

The wizard in the portrait moved closer within his frame. "Yes. Still can't believe he teaches here. At least it's only that Muggle Studies rot."

"I know more about you than what your name is." Hermione's cheeks blushed red, as she was somewhat angry with the old wizard for talking badly about her father. "You're Phineus Nigellus Black. You're Scorpius Malfoy's great-great-great-great grandfather."

That caused the old wizard to pause. "How do you know that, young lady?"

"I work in the summers for Astoria Malfoy. I've been helping her with the family history."

"Pshaw. You've just read my name, then. No work."

"I have too done the work." Mione shook the feather duster at him. "Your son was Cygnus, and his son was Pollux and then he had a son named Cygnus. Cygnus' daughter was Narcissa, who married Lucius Malfoy and their son is Draco. Draco married Astoria and their son is Scorpius, and he's off fighting in the war against the stupid WLF right now. No work, can't believe you."

Phineus Nigellus pulled himself up to his full height and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Finally, after what Mione thought was an eternity, he pointed a finger at her.

"Are you sure you're in Gryffindor, girl?"

Mione rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm in Gryffindor. My sister Gin's in Slytherin, though."

The door opened and Headmaster Longbottom walked in and took a look around his office. "I see some progress. I think that's enough for tonight, Mione. Why don't you continue tomorrow night at the same time?"

After handing the feather duster to Headmaster Longbottom Mione took another look over her shoulder at Phineus Nigellus and quickly left the Headmaster's office.

* * *

As she entered the Gryffindor common room Mione's mood had not improved. Yes, she knew she shouldn't have gone out into the forest, and it went better with Uncle Neville than expected, but Phineus Nigellus Black had irritated her. Saying that she didn't know the Malfoy and Black family history? After all those hours with Astoria going over old letters and photographs?

After going up to her room and gathering her homework she went back down to the common room and made two first year girls give up their seats by the fire. It seemed as if all of the occupants of the common room were quite aware of Mione's mood, though, as everyone gave her a very wide berth. She sat down on the sofa, crossed her legs and tied back her hair, but after ten minutes it was obvious that homework, especially Divination, was out of the question. Instead she took out a clean sheet of parchment and one of her father's ink pens.

_Dear Scorpius,_

_I hope you're safe and ok. I wrote your mum the other day and she's doing pretty well. She's worried about you like always and I think your Dad and the house elves are keeping the paper away from her as long as they can. There's been a lot of stuff in The Prophet about what's going on and it's pretty scary. _

_Hogwarts is Hogwarts. I got detention with Headmaster Longbottom because I might have taken an after-hours broom ride out into the Forbidden Forest. I had to clean the portraits in his office and I kind of got into an argument with Phineus Nigellus Black. He's your fourth great-grandfather, but I'm sure you knew that. Dad's being Dad about the detention which means he hasn't said a word to me yet and I know I'm going to get a Howler from Mum tomorrow morning. Yay. Quidditch is really going well. We beat Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw so far, so the only match left is Slytherin. I hope you won't get upset but we're going to beat the snot out of them. _

_I'm sure you've heard all the other news, right? Well, in case you haven't, here goes. Al Potter married that ugly, old Irish woman. Mum says I have to be nice to her, for Al. She tried talking to me at Mum and Dad's place and she seems nice but I'm sure she's a load of doxy droppings for real. James Potter is actually playing for Puddlemere now, not just on the reserve team, but that's old news. He still sends me Puddlemere stuff. Besides that it's just the usual boring things. HR and Lily are annoying because I never see either of them, especially Lily. I miss having her here at Hogwarts. Minnie is totally sucked into the Ravenclaw crap, never comes close to bending a rule, gets top marks, all that rot. Sometimes I'm amazed we're sisters, let alone twins. It's only when we're at home that she's normal. Gin is still dating that git from Slytherin, you know the one. Every time I see them it makes me want to vomit._

_I'll write your mum soon and go over and visit when I can. Hopefully you can come home soon and we can clean the dust off the brooms again because mum won't let me ride on holidays. I go over to Uncle Ron's and ride, but that's a secret._

_Be safe. Everybody here supports you and wants you to come home soon._

_Mione_

_P.S. Tell Hugo to keep his large arse safe._

* * *

Just as she expected Mione received yet another Howler from her mum at breakfast, detailing exactly how much trouble she would be in when she arrived home for the Easter holiday. Mione sat at the table with her head propped up by her arm as the Howler tore itself up, spreading little red pieces of paper all over her breakfast. Some students watched, but to be honest at that point Mione's Howlers were old news.

It was after her classes that Mione and her roommate Martha were walking in the hallways that they heard the commotion. After half-running towards the sound of the two girls came to a complete and sudden stop. There, in the middle of the hallway, a suit of armor was walking towards students, swinging its sword blindly. As the students ran away or ducked the sword Mione ran forward, jumped up on a window sill and took out her wand.

"_Finite incantatum_!" The suit of armor stopped, mid-swing, as if it had been turned to stone. "Stupid armor." Mione put her wand away and started to walk away when they heard Professor Farnsworth's voice.

"Everyone will stay as they are." The tall, former Auror swept into the hallway. "Who is responsible for this?"

"We were just walking down the hall after Transfiguration talking about class because I couldn't do the assignment and Mione could when we heard the sounds and then we saw the armor and it was swinging its sword and people were running all over the place so Mione took out her wand and made it stop, which I thought was really good because somebody could have been hurt and…"

Professor Farnsworth held up her hand. "Thank you, Martha. Is that true, Mione?"

Mione shrugged. "Yes, Professor. I stopped it."

"And who started it?" Professor Farnsworth looked out amongst the assembled students. "It will be better for the perpetrator if they come forward."

Mione started looking around the assembled students and gasped slightly. There, over by one of the tapestries was her sister Minnie, and from the look on Minnie's face it was obvious to Mione what had happened. The twins locked eyes only for a few seconds, but it was enough for Mione.

"It was me. I did it." Mione elbowed Martha to keep her quiet. "Sorry."

Petal Farnsworth squinted at Mione. "Are you sure about that?"

Mione nodded. "Yes, it was me."

"Very well." With a wave of her wand Professor Farnsworth returned the suit of armor to its usual location. "Please come with me, Miss Boyd."

Mione ignored Martha's attempts at conversation and followed the DADA professor into the classroom. She sat as indicated by Professor Farnsworth at the table closest to the professor's desk.

"Hermione Boyd. We both know you didn't do anything except stop the suit of armor."

"Um…I did too. It was my fault."

"You can stop that. Merlin, girl, you do know I used to be an Auror? I can tell when you're lying. Plus, I've known you too long. Remember your first visit to my classroom?"

"Um, no?" Mione scrunched up her nose. "How old was I?"

"You were small." Petal moved her long braid over her shoulder. "You came to visit with your father one day before classes started and let out a boggart. Even after I recaptured it you claimed that it wasn't you who opened the cabinet. You don't remember that day, do you?"

Mione shook her head. "How did you know it was me?"

"Besides the fact that your father and I were talking in another part of the room the boggart was one of those green monster things from the Muggle movies your father loves? You're a horrid liar." She took a deep breath. "You just got a Howler at breakfast, Mione. I know you wouldn't do anything so soon. You still have detention with Headmaster Longbottom, don't you?"

Mione silently nodded.

"You're covering for someone, you know it and I know it. Very well. Dismissed."

"Pardon me, Professor? I'm dismissed?"

"You'd rather I gave you another detention or took away house points?"

"No. Thank you, Professor!" Mione gathered up her things and left the DADA classroom as quickly as possible.

Mione didn't make it three feet away from the DADA classroom when Minnie ran up to her.

"Mione, what happened? You aren't in trouble again, are you?"

"No, Min, I'm not. She let me off for some reason. Maybe she's going soft in her old age."

The color slowly returned to Minnie's face. "Oh thank Merlin! I'm so sorry, I read about this new spell and wondered if I could get it to actually work, reading about it is one thing and the spell looked so…"

"Enough! Geez, Minnie. Come on, let's go someplace else. I'm sure she heard you."

Minnie's eyes grew wide. "You don't think…"

Mione grabbed her sister's arms and the two walked down the hallway. After they were safely out of hearing range of Professor Farnsworth Mione clapped her sister on the back. "Didn't think you had it in you, Min. That was pretty wicked."

Minnie laughed. "It was, wasn't it?" Her expression changed suddenly. "Sorry about the Howler. Has Dad said anything yet?"

"No, he's doing the usual Dad thing. I suppose I should go see him. After supper, though. He's always easier on us after he's had something to eat. Maybe I should stop by and tell Nonky to fix him his favorite tonight."

"Oh, good idea." Minnie nodded. "And do it when he's smoking his pipe. That always helps." She looked down at her shoes for a second and then back up to her sister. "Thanks again, Mione."

Mione chucked her twin on her arm. "No problem, sis. I couldn't let you spoil your perfect little Ravenclaw permanent record, could I?

After the girls went their separate ways Mione finally made it into the Gryffindor common room, only to be met immediately by Martha. After finally getting Martha to calm down and not speak 500 words a second the two roommates sat down on a sofa. Apparently concern for Mione's detentions was not the only reason her roommate was looking for her, as Martha gave Mione a note. Martha excused herself a little too rapidly for Mione's tastes, and after reading the note she knew exactly why. So much for buttering up her father before dinner.

* * *

After taking a deep breath she knocked on her father's door. Usually having supper with her dad was something she looked forward to, as not only did he play his Muggle music and smoke his pipe but usually he let her stay up late and it was fun. The supper invitation for the evening, though, was not going to be fun.

"Come in."

After hearing her father's voice Mione opened the door; as soon as she stepped inside she realized it was definitely not going to be a normal supper with her dad.

"Hello Mione." Ron Weasley sat at the small table with her father, dressed in his Auror robes. "So how's school?"

Mione looked at him and shook her head at his crooked smile. Her shoulders drooped as she walked over and sat at the table between the two men. After a rather large sigh she looked up at her dad. "You called in Uncle Ron? Is it that bad?"

"I don't even get a hello?" Ron reached over and tousled her hair. "Don't blame your father, blame your mum. She sent an owl to Hermione."

"Oh bloody hell." Mione let her head fall onto the table with a muffled thump.

"Mione, maybe you should wait until we've eaten before you fall to pieces. Somehow I think Nonky has it in his head that I need some especially good food tonight." Hank Boyd looked at Mione from the corner of his eye and then brought out his pipe. "Standard rules apply, don't tell your mother."

Ron looked over to Mione. "So, let's see, another detention, this time for flying out into the Forbidden Forest, plus another Howler…keep it up and George may reconsider you working at the shop."

"Yes, about your latest detention, Mione." Hank looked over at his daughter. "Neville and I had a rather long talk about that. Even though Neville is a Gryffindor, we both agreed on your punishment should you receive another detention. Hermione Helen, look at me."

Mione peered up at her father. She knew from his tone it wasn't going to be good.

"Hermione, if you receive another detention this year I'm sorry to say that you won't be allowed to play Quidditch."

"Dad!" Mione gripped the table with both of her hands. "That's not fair!"

"Actually I have to agree with him, Mione." Ron looked over at her and had the expression on his face that she'd seen when Hugo had been in trouble. "You know how much I love Quidditch, and how much I love watching you play, especially when you're good enough to beat Slytherin this year, but rules are rules. Merlin, I bet Percy just got a shiver somewhere. Never thought I'd say that."

Mione slumped in her seat. This was the worst thing ever. Not only was Dad really, actually mad at her, but Uncle Ron had agreed on her punishment if she got another detention. Quidditch? How could they take that away from her?

"Blondie, you know I hate it as much as you do, but you can't make the Cannons if you get kicked off the team. No time to show off for the scouts."

That made Mione smile, as Uncle Ron had used his private nickname for her. She looked up and saw a quick smile flash across her godfather's face and it made her feel somewhat better.

"Right, enough of the Big Bad Parent routine, what are we eating, Hank?" Ron kicked Mione's foot under the table. "And when? I'm starving."

* * *

Mione was on her best behavior for the rest of the month, even during the Easter holiday when her mum really laid into her about her detentions. Her broom was strictly off-limits, she had to clean her room and Gin was absolutely horrible to her, egging her on in hopes that Mione would retaliate and be off the team for the Slytherin match. The only bright spot in the routine of cleaning, homework and other horribly boring punishments arrived at the end of the holiday, right before they all headed back to Hogwarts.

Melody walked through the house after picking up the post and dispatching the owls, absentmindedly flipping through the envelopes until she stopped in the middle of the kitchen.

"Mione! Mione, you have mail."

Mione walked into the kitchen, still clad in her Puddlemere nightshirt. "I have mail?"

"Yes, two letters. One looks like it's from Astoria, but I'm not sure about the other one."

Mione took the letters from her mum and went over to the big sofa in front of the window that was her favorite. After making sure that nobody was around, especially Gin, she opened the letter from Astoria. It was the usual letter from Mrs. Malfoy, inquiring about her schoolwork, how Quidditch was going and things like that. It was only after she reached the last part of the letter that she felt her stomach tighten.

_We received some unfortunate news from the Ministry last week regarding Scorpius. All they would tell us was that he was injured in Finland, spent an entire week in the infirmary but had recovered completely and was back with his unit. Draco was quite upset and you can imagine how the news affected me. I contacted your mother regarding a possible visit for you over the Easter holiday, but she informed me of your latest incident regarding your broom. Please refrain from obtaining any more detentions; I would hate to think I would miss out on seeing you this summer for your "job."_

Mione covered her mouth in shock. Something had happened to Scorpius? Mione thought immediately of the conversations between herself and Astoria, specifically the one right after Scorpius had been deployed. It was the conversation that Astoria, in her shock, didn't treat Mione as a little girl but confided in her all of her fears. It was specifically the fear that gnawed at her at night, the fear that Scorpius would not return from the war.

The sound of the Floo interrupted Mione's thoughts and the sight of her brother standing there brushing the Floo powder off brought her back to the present. "HR, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the shop?"

Again the sound of the Floo was heard and soon Lily appeared and took HR's hand. Mione bounded off the couch and gave Lily a hug.

"What, she gets a hug and I get told off for not being at work?" HR looked down at his sister. "Where's everybody, Mione?"

Mione broke off her hug and looked up at her tall brother. "Mum's in the office, Minnie's reading of course, Dad's still sleeping and I don't care where Gin is."

HR laughed. "Some things never change." He looked over to Lily and smiled. "Well, some things do change. Hang out here for a while, Lils; I'll get everybody rounded up."

Mione grabbed Lily by the hand and drug her over to the sofa. "Oh Merlin, it's so good to see you, Lily. You won't believe what's happened lately."

Lily laughed. "Actually, I have an idea. I was out at The Burrow when your mum showed up asking Granny Molly how she dealt with the twins. It was right after your little broom ride to the Forbidden Forest."

"Oh. Yeah." Mione scrunched up her nose. "That's been awful."

Before any further conversation could take place the Boyd family assembled in the kitchen, Hank sleepily rubbing his eyes. HR took control then and informed them that in nine months the Boyd family would have another addition. The shock of his announcement affected everyone, especially Melody, as Mione watched her mum cry happy tears. After all the hugs and congratulations HR and Lily left to go inform Harry and Ginny that they would be grandparents, leaving the Boyd family in a rather happy mood.

Mione sat down on the sofa and Minnie followed suit. The two sisters excitedly talked about their future niece or nephew until Minnie moved uneasily for a moment. After reaching behind her she pulled out a crumpled letter.

"Oh, that's mine. Haven't read it yet." Mione snatched the letter away from her sister.

"Maybe it's from Gareth." Minnie smiled teasingly at her sister, as everyone knew the second year Gryffindor had a crush on Mione.

"Ha ha, very funny. Now go read all of Dad's library and let me read my letter." After her sister had left the room Mione turned the letter over in her hand. "Now who could you be from?"

_Dear Mione,_

_I hope you are doing well. I'm writing this letter from a really uncomfortable bed in the Infirmary. I'd tell you where but then we'd both be in trouble. From Mum's last letter it sounds like you haven't had any problems in that department on your own. I'm ok now but it was really terrifying. They didn't know for a while if I'd ever be able to walk again, and I thought of Mum in her chair. Luckily they found out how to fix it so I'm better now, I think they'll even let me out of here in a few days._

_Thanks again for your letters. I know you are busy with Quidditch and school so I know you can't write very often, but the letters mean a lot to me. Letters mean a lot to all of us out here, even if we don't get them very often. I thought that I'd better write you in case you hear something. Hopefully you won't mind, but when I woke up in the Infirmary I heard the Healers talking. They had gone through my things, sorting them all out for me so I'd have them when I woke up because my uniform was ruined, and I heard them talking about your last letter. They assumed that since you were writing to me that I was your boyfriend, and one of the Healers had been in your Dad's class a long time ago and recognized your name. When I woke up all the way there were different Healers on duty and I was discharged before I could say anything. Hopefully you won't be bothered by that, but try to say something to your Dad. After all, I am almost six years older than you. Your brother would do something horrible to me if he thought that I was trying to pull something with his fourth year little sister._

_I've got to go now, we'll be moving again soon. Hugo says that he's keeping his arse down and it's not that big anymore. I think he really misses his Grandmother Weasley's cooking. _

_Thank you for checking in on my parents for me. I know Mum loves your letters and don't let Dad fool you, he may not say it but he likes it when you're around. If you see Phineus Nigellus tell him to be nice to you or I'll mess with his portrait the next time I'm home._

_Scorpius_

Mione sat there on the sofa, letter in her hand and looked out the window. Scorpius Malfoy, her boyfriend?

"Who's the letter from, Mione?" Gin stood next to her. "Your boyfriend?"

Mione shook her head. "No. Just a friend."


	6. Only Sixteen

**Chapter 6: Only Sixteen**

_2028_

Mione stretched as the faint sun tried to peek into her bedroom window. Even though it was supposedly Spring the weather the last few days had been horrible, clouds and rain with only a little bit of sun. She didn't mind the rain, though, especially on match days. After a deep breath Mione rolled out of bed and began her morning match day ritual. After a shower and drying off three times she put on her left sock, touched her knees three times and then her right sock. Once she was fully dressed in her Quidditch uniform she looked out the window. Perfect day for Gryffindor to trounce Hufflepuff again.

As she headed down to breakfast Mione accepted the well wishes of her housemates, confident that Gryffindor would once again be victorious. Once she made it into the Great Hall she was immediately greeted by Gareth Willoughby, two years younger than her and still convinced that he would be the love of Mione's life.

"Mione, I saved your favorite seat. It'll be good luck if you sit with me."

She smiled weakly at him. "Thank you, Gareth. I appreciate that, but you know I always sit with Minnie before matches. I do appreciate it." After seeing his face she patted him on the arm and walked over to the Ravenclaw table. Yes, her superstitious nature regarding Quidditch made the Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor matches interesting, as on those days it would only be her and her twin at that end of the table, but it would be bad luck not to sit in her usual spot.

Minnie was waiting for her sister and nodded to Mione as she sat down. "So, Mione, think Gryffindor will break three of our family's hearts today?"

"Definitely." She picked up the pumpkin juice that appeared in front of her. "Probably not HR's, though; he'll be happy for Lily. Oh, you think they'll be here today and have Artie with them?"

Minnie shook her head negatively. "Probably not. It's supposed to rain."

Mione looked up at the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. "Yeah. Maybe we can convince them to let us watch him soon. Dad said that he heard Artie is chewing on everything now."

"More like gumming everything. I don't think he has teeth yet."

Minnie looked around the table, making sure that all her fellow Ravenclaws were absorbed in their own breakfast conversations. She leaned in close to Mione. "Did you get a letter recently?"

Mione shook her head. "Nothing lately. Last one said things were getting better, though. Rumor was they might be rotationed back to the UK for a while."

"Rotated." Minnie corrected her. "I heard one of the seventh year boys talking about it in the Common Room. His sister is in the army." Minnie picked at her eggs for a moment. "Mione, what will happen when you see him again? Will it be weird?"

After chewing a piece of bacon Mione shrugged. "It will be a little weird. We've been writing for over three years and the last time he saw me I was a little kid."

Minnie elbowed her sister in the ribs. "Well, you're not a little kid anymore. I think yours are bigger than mine."

"Stop it!" Minnie threw the rest of the bacon at her sister, missed and hit a first year Ravenclaw boy in the ear. She leaned forward. "Sorry!"

* * *

The warm-up lap around the Quidditch pitch always calmed Mione down as opposed to some of her teammates; they seemed to sometimes become over-excited, only returning to a normal playing level after a few minutes. For Mione it was different, as all of the nervousness of the preceding days and hours simply melted away and she was truly locked into the task at hand, the game plan. For Hufflepuff the plan was as always, get a large lead and keep pressing, working on their Chasers.

After taking fewer warm-up laps at speed than her teammates Mione once again fell into the comfortable rhythm of her superstitions, doing a few dips and lazily meandering around the pitch, looking for her father in the stands. He was usually easy to spot, and this time it was no exception as he sat in the Hufflepuff stands. Now that she'd seen her dad Mione continued her lazy lap, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. She was almost at her ready point at the Gryffindor end of the pitch when she flew by the "we're not supporting either team" side and caught a glimpse of someone sitting next to her sister Gin, someone with long, dark hair and a full beard. She crouched low over her broom and was trying to get in one more warm-up lap to see exactly who was sitting with Gin when her captain called out, sending the team to their positions.

In her spot, hovering above the ground Mione looked over again to where Gin sat. She shook her head; it was Al Potter! He hadn't been outside of Grimmauld Place since his wife had died, and now he was sitting with her sister?

Before she could think on it any longer the Snitch was up and the match began. All the thoughts about Al disappeared from her mind and she took her Beater's bat in hand, ready to show the Puffs what was what.

* * *

Mione accepted her congratulations from her team but wanted more than anything to make it towards the stands. If that actually was Al in the stands with Gin than she really needed to talk to him, mostly to apologize for not coming over to Grimmauld Place with the rest of her family. She had been in the middle of writing to Scorpius when they left, and even though she knew she should have gone over and be with Al she just couldn't tear herself away from the letter. Yes, it could have been finished later, as it would take days if not weeks to reach Scorpius, but the thought that Scorpius could die in the war just like Al's wife Erin was something she didn't want to think about.

As she walked over to the "neither team" side, watching the people walk down the stairs and exit the stands, Mione heard her name and recognized the voice immediately.

"Mione! There you are!" Her mum stood next to her dad and held out her arms. Mione ran over and into a hug from her parents. Soon she was aware of other people standing by her parents, including one person in a wheelchair. After searching around for a moment she realized Al Potter was nowhere to be seen. In turn Mione received congratulations from the Gryffindor alumni, especially her Uncle Ron and Uncle George, and after receiving some praise and a few suggestions from her Aunt Ginny, Mione turned to one of the people she'd wanted to speak with for quite some time.

"Mrs. M, I'm so glad to see you here."

Astoria Malfoy smiled and patted Mione on the arm. "Very well done, dear. I do hope that Hufflepuff boy will be all right. That was a very nasty bludger."

"Thanks. I'm sure he'll be fine." Mione looked over and saw that almost all of the adults were busy talking amongst themselves, leaving her the ability to talk one-on-one with Astoria for a while. "Have you heard from Scorpius lately? There's a rumor that he might be rotated back to the UK for a while."

Astoria smiled slightly. "Yes, I've heard that too, but unfortunately I have not received a letter from him in quite some time. You know he speaks very fondly of you. I know your letters lift his spirits so."

Once again Mione heard her name being called, this time by her Quidditch teammates. "I've got to go. Bye Mrs. M." She ran over to her parents and her godparents, told everybody goodbye and received an embarrassing kiss from her mother. After that she joined her teammates and arm-in-arm they headed back towards the castle and the inevitable Common Room celebration.

* * *

Even though she joined in the party with the rest of her Gryffindor housemates Mione's mind was elsewhere. It was the appearance of Gareth Willoughby asking Martha if she'd seen her that was the last straw and caused Mione to leave the Common Room. She needed someplace that she could be sure that Gareth wouldn't find her, and after seeing a Hufflepuff in the hallway she knew exactly where she was going.

Her dad did his usual thing when she knocked on the door, and she shook her head as she heard the usual 'it's open' comment. As she walked into his room he took his feet off of the desk.

"Mione! This is a surprise. What do I owe this…wait, you're not in trouble again, are you?"

Mione rolled her eyes and sat in her dad's big green chair. "No, Dad. I'm not in trouble. It's only been an hour since the match." She sniffed the air for a moment. "Have you been smoking your pipe again? You know what Mum says."

"Yes, Mione, I know what your Mom says." Hank moved his hand behind the desk and then gave up, bringing the pipe into plain sight. "Ok, don't say anything." After taking a couple puffs from the pipe he looked over to her. "So I'm assuming there's a celebration party in the Gryffindor Common Room, what are you doing up here? Are you sure you're not in trouble?"

"I'm _not_ in trouble, Dad. I just…can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Did you teach Scorpius Malfoy when he was at Hogwarts?" Mione watched her father give her a surprised look. "I just thought I'd ask, seeing Mrs. M at the match today made me think of it."

"Hmm…well, not really, Mione. He tested out of Muggle Studies but he did take the NEWT, it was a special allowance. I mostly know him from Muggle Club. He likes a lot of Muggle things since he grew up around them in New Orleans before he came to Hogwarts."

"How can you take the NEWT if you don't take the classes?"

"He tested out. Most wizards either take Muggle Studies and drop it at their earliest convenience or continue on to the NEWT. You could do the same thing, you know, since you've grown up in both wizarding and the Muggle words. HR didn't do it, and I don't think Gin is going to do it, but you and Minnie could. It's common for students with Muggle parents or grandparents. Scorpius was different, though, as he has no Muggle relatives." He took a few puffs off his pipe. "Why the sudden interest in Scorpius' school days?"

Mione bit her bottom lip slightly. "Seeing Mrs. M here made me wonder what it was like for him when he came to Hogwarts. I know Mr. M doesn't talk about when he was at Hogwarts at all."

Hank took a deep breath. "Yes, well, you know from History of Magic why Draco doesn't talk about his Hogwarts days. As for Scorpius, he had a hard time at first. I really think if it wasn't for Professor Farnsworth it would have been worse. She made it well known that she treated all students in her class the same, and she gave him a few 'extra lessons' to help him defend himself. He mostly stayed to himself, very quiet, until finally it registered to almost everyone that Scorpius was not his father or his grandfather. Don't know how that happened, exactly, but somehow it did. He liked to borrow a lot of my books, too. Mostly the Muggle literature."

Something caught Mione's attention, the music that was playing. "Dad, what song is that?"

A large smile broke out on her father's face. "Ah, the great Sam Cooke. One of the best voices of all time. That's 'Only Sixteen.' It's good but to get Sam you need to hear 'Bring it on Home' and 'A Change is Gonna Come' if you really want to hear some good stuff. I think they're right; the man did invent soul music. And the gospel…"

"Thanks, Dad." Mione knew she had to cut him off before he started another one of his long music rants. She listened as the man sang 'she was too young to fall in love' in a sweet voice. "Ok, I'd better go back to the party. I won't tell Mum you've been smoking."

* * *

The next morning Mione was enjoying the fact that her bed was soft and warm when suddenly Martha pounced on her.

"Mione, Mione, your sister's on the cover of _Celebrity_ _Wizard_ _Weekly_!"

Mione pulled the duvet over her head. "Right, Martha, and I'm Gwennog Jones."

"No, look!"

Reluctantly Mione uncovered her head and sat up in bed. Martha handed her the magazine and, sure enough, right there on the cover was her sister Gin sitting in the Hogwarts Quidditch stands with Al Potter. Mione flipped through the pages until she found the article. Scanning it quickly she began to laugh. "This is a load of bullshit. Gin and Al? Right. His wife died not too long ago, and he's like a brother. He's my brother-in-law, for Merlin's sake. Al tells us to ignore this magazine, you should do the same." Mione flopped back into bed and pulled the duvet back over her head.

"But just think if it was true, Mione." Martha pulled the covers off of Mione's head. "We all know you used to have the biggest thing for Albus Potter."

"I don't anymore. He's like a brother. Go bother someone else, Martha."

"Oooh, if that's the case, you're dating someone? You are, aren't you? Godric, who could it be? Not Gareth Willoughby, of course, though he'd probably explode if you kissed him, not Daniel…"

Mione reached behind her, pulled out a pillow and hit Martha in the head. "You are seriously mental. I'm not dating anyone and you know it."

After picking up the pillow and hugging it to her chest Martha squinted at Mione. "You're not dating anyone, but that doesn't mean you don't fancy someone. I'm right, aren't I?"

Mione bit her bottom lip slightly and Martha squealed.

"I'm right, I'm right! Oh come on, you have to tell me."

"Martha, if you don't leave me alone I'll tell everyone that you and Gilbert Twining spend the time between Herbology and Transfiguration in the broom closet."

A gasp escaped Martha's lips. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me."

Martha threw the pillow back at Mione. "You're no fun. If you don't get up, though, you'll miss breakfast."

Mione took the magazine out of Martha's hand. "Go on down, I'll stop by later. Tell Gilbert hello for me." Mione made kissing noises at Martha until she left.

When Martha was safely out of the room Mione flipped open the magazine again and took a look at the pictures. Yes, there was Gin with Albus, and in one picture they were even holding hands, but it was obvious to her that her sister wasn't interested in Al. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask Gin about what had happened at the match, as she would probably know how Al was doing.

After doing the absolute minimum of preparation in the bathroom to become presentable Mione made her way down to breakfast. Most of the students had already eaten, but several were scattered amongst the different house tables. As she walked in Mione took a look around and it only took a moment to find her sister Gin. A sizeable crowd was gathered around the Slytherin table, something that never happened, especially when it was a crowd composed of girls from all of the different houses.

As she elbowed her way between two seventh year Ravenclaw girls Mione was reaching her boiling point; she could hear the girls asking questions and not giving Gin enough time to even respond.

"All right, that's enough, break it up." Mione half-shoved a Hufflepuff girl out of the way. "Leave her alone, buzz off. I haven't had a detention in a few weeks and I'd love to try out a new hex."

Slowly the crowd dispersed, leaving Gin and Mione alone. "Thanks, Mione. I tried to get them to leave me alone, but…"

"Save it, I know." Mione sat down at the Slytherin table next to Gin. "How's Al doing? I thought that was him next to you, saw you during the warmup laps."

Gin shrugged. "He's not doing great. You could have visited him at Grimmauld, you know." After glancing at Mione from the corner of her eye Gin looked down at the table. "It was so sad. He hadn't even eaten, I gave him most of my sandwiches. He has no idea how to keep going now. I told him what Dad always tells us, you just keep on living."

"It's so sad, Gin." Mione put her arm around her older sister. "You're not really dating him, right? That's just the usual horseshit from that magazine, isn't it?"

A scowl broke out on Gin's face. "Of course I'm not dating him, Mione."

"Hmmm…that came out a little forceful. You're dating someone else, aren't you?" Mione took her arm from her sister. "You are! It's not Richard Cansing, is it? He's cute but there's nothing upstairs."

"No." Gin looked Mione directly in the eyes. "If I tell you something do you absolutely promise not to say anything? I have dirt on you, you know."

"What do you have on me? Of course I'll keep it secret." Mione leaned forward. "I won't even tell Minnie."

"Hmm…ok. I'm sort of dating someone."

"Gin, how do you sort of date someone? Is that even possible?" Mione looked shocked. "Merlin, you're not the other woman, are you?"

"Oh bloody hell, Mione, no! Give me a little credit. It's just…he's in the army. He sent me a letter this morning because he saw the magazine and went over and talked to Al. In two weeks there's a Hogsmeade weekend, and he just got back. They rotated him back to England for three months, and it'll be the first time I see him. It's hard because we've been writing but we haven't seen each other in ages."

Mione felt her stomach churn slightly, a combination of hunger and nerves. "He went and saw Al? Gin, who is it?"

Gin stuck out her hand, little finger extended. "Pinky swear."

Mione put out her hand, locked little fingers with her sister and nodded. "Pinky swear."

"You give me your broom for keeps if you say a word." Gin tilted her head. "For keeps. And you tell me a secret in trade."

"Merlin's socks, pants and underwear, Gin! All right, I swear!"

The sisters released their hands and Gin took a deep breath. "Hugo Weasley."

"Wow, really? That's…wow. Wait, did you say Hugo is back for three months now?"

"Yeah, he is. I can't wait until next weekend. We're going to go see a WeasleyVision movie together. Hugo's trying to get Al to come as well. You know Paige is going to be over here, right? I think she's going to go, just to give Al someone to talk to."

Mione's mind raced. _If Hugo was back, did that mean…_

"Ok, Mione, your turn. You owe me a secret." Gin tapped her on the arm. "A good one."

Before she could even think about it, Mione blurted it out. "I've been writing Scorpius Malfoy for over three years and it's more than just the regular friendly letters." She covered her mouth with her hand.

Gin's mouth was open in shock. Finally she blinked several times and laughed. "You definitely told me a good one. Mione, do you have feelings for him? More than just friends?"

Mione bit her bottom lip slightly. "Well…"

"Oh my Merlin, you do!" Gin's laugh was one of surprise. "I know you do, you did the lip thing. How does he feel about you?"

"I'm not sure, Gin. I think he feels the same way, but he's so much older than me. Plus…well, he's a Malfoy. You know that even though Dad and Mr. M are friends it's not like the Weasleys. Everybody likes the Weasleys. But I really don't care. He doesn't treat me like a little kid, we write about everything."

"If you pull an HR and Lily, Mum will kill you."

Mione smacked her sister on the arm. "We're writing, Gin, not picking out wedding rings. What about you and Hugo?"

"Can you see me doing that? We're sort of dating, Hermione Helen, that's it."

"Then I'm doing the same, Virginia Lane, and don't you forget it." Mione stomach rumbled, reminding her that she still hadn't had breakfast. "If Hugo's coming back for three weeks, does that mean Scorpius will be, too?"

"Duh." Gin rolled her eyes. "He's Hugo's lieutenant. He never told you that?"

"We don't talk about the war much, mostly what we want to do afterwards. Oh!" Mione clapped her hands together. "Rose! Has she seen anything about you two?"

Gin shook her head. "Hugo says that she can't really see anything about her immediate family unless it's something really, really big. I'm safe, but you? You might want to be careful around her. Now go eat, I can hear your stomach from here."

* * *

The next week passed slowly for Mione, as it seemed that the days were lasting extra long just to torture her. She had to fend off questions from Martha about who she fancied and she couldn't even look at Gin. Minnie asked her if something was wrong at least once every day. Classes seemed to drag on into infinity, and she couldn't concentrate on her work, causing her potion to turn a deep, green color and bubble out of the cauldron instead of turning the nice shade of pink that the lesson required. Professor Boomstraw even made her stay after class and clean the table and the cauldron, making her late for Professor Longbottom's Herbology class.

More and more though Mione kept thinking of her conversation with Gin. Was she really sort of dating Scorpius? Did he see it the same way? Would he come to Hogsmeade? What would she say to him if he did?

It was on Thursday night that Mione was in the library, trying to catch up on her Transfiguration homework, when Gin found her.

"Hey troublemaker, any more detentions this week?" Gin sat her books on the table and then lowered her voice. "I got a letter from Hugo today. He said Scorpius is coming to Hogsmeade."

"He is?" Mione took a look around to make sure nobody could overhear their conversation. "What else did he say?"

"Well…" Gin smiled. "I think you're officially sort of dating an older man."

Mione covered her face with her hands.

"Hey, now, Mione, don't do a Mum and freak out. It's a good thing, right?"

She peeked through her fingers at her sister. "Yes. But what do I do? I've never had a boyfriend. You've had lots."

Gin pursed her lips. "Mmm…yeah. But so what?"

Mione mumbled something but Gin couldn't hear.

"Can't hear you. What was that?"

After taking a deep breath Mione lowered her hands from her face. "I've never even kissed a boy."

"So? Nobody says you have to? Just be yourself, Mione. Merlin, it's so weird seeing you like this. Usually you just barrel ahead into things and think about it later. It's kind of funny, actually."

"Shut up, Gin. You haven't said anything, have you?"

"No. You?"

"No." Mione reached over and closed her Transfiguration textbook. "I'm not going to get anything done now. Oh, what do I wear?"

Gin shook her head. "Mione, Mione, Mione…what did I say? Just be yourself. What would you wear if we were going to meet HR and Lily? Wear that. Don't look like one of those girls, you know the ones. Think about it."

* * *

Mione woke up at the crack of dawn on Saturday, somewhat tired as she hadn't slept very well the night before. The Gryffindor students at breakfast were surprised to see her arrive in the Great Hall when she went down, as usually she was one of the very last students to eat breakfast. Today, though, was something different altogether. Mione ignored the questions and ate quickly, hoping to be one of the first students to Hogsmeade. When Headmaster Titus stood up and let them know that they were free to visit Hogsmeade Mione almost ran out of the room.

The walk to Hogsmeade, one she'd know all her life as it was on the way to Colony House, seemed longer than ever. She walked slowly, trying to figure out what she would say to Scorpius when she saw him, but everything seemed stupid to her. If it didn't sound overly enthusiastic it sounded cold and detached, aloof. When she was almost in Hogsmeade a thought came to her that made her stop dead in her tracks; people would see them together! It would get back to her Mum and Dad! What would they say, her seeing Scorpius? She was only sixteen and he was twenty-two! Yes, she'd be of age next year, but now? Was it illegal? Would Scorpius be thrown in Azkaban if he kissed her?

"Boyd, did somebody bodybind you?"

Mione looked behind her and saw Jennifer Hortbump, a seventh year Gryffindor girl who was known in their house for letting the boys know she was up for almost anything. Jennifer wore exactly what Gin had told her not to wear, revealing clothing and way too much makeup.

"No, just thinking."

"First time for everything, I suppose." She laughed at Mione and walked on ahead.

When Jennifer was safely far enough ahead Mione continued her walk, this time much slower. She still was mulling over what would happen if everyone saw her with Scorpius when she entered Hogsmeade. Now, though, she was at a loss at where to go; all of her energy and thoughts had been concentrated on getting to Hogsmeade, and now that she was finally there she had no idea whatsoever of what to do.

"Mione! Mione, wait up!"

When she saw it was Gin, walking alone, that called to her Mione let out a very big, relieved, sigh. As soon as Gin caught up with her she put an arm around Mione.

"I think we should go to The Three Broomsticks, don't you? I think butterbeer sounds wonderful."

"Um, ok. Do you…"

"Shush. It's all planned out. You'll see."

"You're such a Slytherin. Ok, let's go."

There were already the beginnings of the usual Hogsmeade weekend crowd at the Three Broomsticks, but when they entered Gin led Mione towards a table at the back. Once Mione could see where they were going, though, she felt relieved and excited all at the same time. Seated at the table were Hugo, Al, her cousin Paige, Scorpius and Astoria Malfoy. Somehow Gin had arranged it so that Mrs. M would be there, the perfect cover!

"Well, well, there's someone I haven't seen in ages." Paige Boyd, the girls' cousin smiled at the two of them.

After hugging Paige Gin and Mione said hello to everyone, but when Mione finally caught Scorpius' eye she felt her stomach flutter just a bit. She took him in all at once, amazed at how much he'd changed since the last time she'd seen him, the time they rode brooms at Malfoy Manor. He was wearing his uniform, a deep blue color with small gold emblems on the shoulders and at his neck. His hair was cut very short and most of all he looked as if he'd filled out, as he wasn't as skinny as before.

"It is so good to see you, Hermione." Astoria smiled at her. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Mione sat down next to Astoria. Scorpius sat on the other side of his mother. She watched Gin sit between Hugo and Al, leaving Paige next to her. For the next hour everyone visited about Hogwarts, Quidditch, and everything else excepting the topics of the loss of Al's wife and the war in general. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Mione, Hugo stood up.

"We need to be going if we're going to make the movie. Sorry, Mrs. Malfoy, Mione. Lieutenant Malfoy, permission to go have fun?"

Scorpius rolled his eyes. "Get out of here, Weasley."

Mione stood up and went over to Al. She stood before him for a moment before giving him a large hug. "I'm so sorry I didn't come over and see you, Al. I should have. I'm sorry."

Al held her at arm's length. "It's ok, Mione. It is. Don't worry about it."

Soon it was just Mione and the Malfoys at the table. Scorpius moved around so that he was on the opposite side of the table, equally distant from his mother and Mione. "I can't thank you enough for your letters, Mione. You have no idea how much they mean to me."

Mione's eyes were wide. "I like your letters an awful lot. I don't know what I'd do without them."

"Hopefully you'll be home soon, Scorpius." Astoria took a sip of her tea. "It's so much nicer to be able to talk in person instead of sending letters, isn't it?" She patted Mione on the arm. "And you'll have to come over soon. I think I'll owl your mum."


	7. It Continued with a Bracelet

**Chapter 7: It Continued with a Bracelet**

_2029_

Mione woke up late, as usual, and groggily half-stumbled to the loo, not paying attention to anything else. Once she'd closed and locked the door she looked at herself in the mirror and nothing looked any different. The same blonde hair, the same green eyes, the same scar on her ear from when she tried to pierce her ears at Grandma and Grandpa Boyd's house when she was little. But she wasn't little anymore, she was seventeen now. She was a legal adult in the wizarding world. Now she could actually, really go out with Scorpius and her Mum couldn't say anything.

As she stepped into he shower she knew that was wrong; her Mum would always say something whether she was supposed to or not. Her Dad would be easier, he knew Scorpius more than her Mum. HR might be harder to tell. At least her sisters were on board. Minnie had been very judgmental at first, but after Mione had shown her a couple of Scorpius' letters she finally came around.

"Are you about done in there? I have to go!"

Mione stuck her face around the shower curtain. "Give me a minute, Martha, I'm almost done."

Martha's voice from the other side of the door was strained. "I have to go now!"

"Ok, just don't flush. And the door's locked."

"Happy Birthday, Mione!" Martha walked in for a while was silent as she did her business. Finally, without thinking, she reached out and flushed the toilet.

"AAAAA! Martha!"

"Sorry, Mione! Habit."

"For that you need to hand me towels." The water shut off behind the curtain and Mione's hand reached out, dripping slightly on the floor."

Martha retrieved the requested towels, and shortly thereafter Mione stepped out with Gryffindor red towels around her body and wrapped up on her head. "Bloody wonderful way to start my birthday."

"Sorry, Mione, but I was up early this morning and I drank too much tea, but I thought you'd start your birthday with your presents, they're at the foot of your bed, I know I would have, and I think…"

Mione tightened the towel around her hair, as some of it began to escape. "I have presents?"

"Of course you have presents! Open mine first, it's the yellow one."

"Thanks, Martha, I'm sure I'll love it. Can I get dressed now?"

* * *

Mione sat on the bed with Martha and opened up the yellow present, happy as could be when she saw the packaging of a broom maintenance kit. "Martha, these aren't cheap. You didn't have to do that."

Martha shrugged. "When you become a professional Quidditch player you can mention I got it for you in your interviews."

"The scouts come to see everybody. James told me that." Mione bit her lip slightly, as yes, James had told her that the scouts do come to see everybody, but he'd also let it slip that a Puddlemere scout had attended her last match to specifically check out her abilities. Luckily it had been a good match and Gryffindor had once again trounced Hufflepuff, but it wasn't Mione's best game.

"Ok, I'm going down to breakfast now. If you don't hurry you won't have time to eat and make class." Martha got up from the bed. "How does it feel to be a real adult? I can't wait. I think when I turn seventeen this summer I'm going to go to Barbados and lie in the sun, maybe I'll even take Gilbert and my parents can't really say anything because I'll be of age but Mum will probably throw a fit and Dad might even say a bad word which I've never heard him say, well he does say 'Merlin' a lot but that doesn't count because it's a name…"

"Bye, Martha." Mione waved at her.

After Martha left the room Mione took a look around and realized that her other roommates were gone, she had the whole place to herself. She opened her other presents, lots of nice things from her godparents and her siblings, but it was one little flat, rectangular package that took her breath away. After unwrapping the red and gold paper she lifted the lid of the little box, and there, lying in a very pretty satin-lined case, was a gold charm bracelet. There were Quidditch charms all along the bracelet, a Snitch, a broomstick, a Bludger, a Beater's bat, all dangling from the bracelet which was made up of two intertwining strands. She unclasped it and placed it on her right wrist, and in doing so felt a very small tingle.

The tingle made her look to see who had sent it to her, but there was no note or card. Thinking for a moment she reached over to the discarded wrapping paper, but nothing was written there, no secret message. After looking on the lid of the red velvet box she saw the logo of Fiona's Filigree. She would have to write Gin and have her do the detective work; it would be right up her alley, as she loved mysteries.

After putting her new presents in her trunk Mione headed downstairs to breakfast and took her bag with her, as she knew from experience that she wouldn't have time to go back to her room before class started. After receiving birthday wishes from a few Gryffindors and some other students Mione finally made it into the Great Hall, but when she looked over to find her sister she was very surprised. There, at the Gryffindor table, at the end, sat her sister Minnie and her parents.

"Happy birthday, Min!" Mione gave her a hug and sat down next to her sister.

"You too, Mione!" Minnie gave her a grin. "Mum was almost ready to send me up after you."

"Happy birthday, girls." Melody looked at her two youngest daughters. "I can't believe you two are of age. It seems like only yesterday that I came home from the hospital for a checkup and Rosie told me that you two would be girls." She pulled out a handkerchief and began dabbing at her eyes. "And now you'll be leaving Hogwarts at the end of the year."

Mione felt Minnie nudge her and smiled. They were both expecting their Mum to turn on the waterworks, and their Dad has prepared them for it as well.

"Yes, and since you two are of age, I believe it's time for the traditional present." Hank smiled at his girls. "I'm sure you know what it is, right?"

The twins nodded simultaneously and held out their left arms, causing their father to laugh.

"You two are such little shits."

"Hank!" Melody smacked him on the arm. "On today of all days, can't you be appropriate?"

Mione watched as her father brought out two boxes, both from Fiona's Filigree. While her Mum put on Minnie's watch, a silver, delicate thing, her father put on her watch, a very sturdy gold timepiece.

"I thought you should have that one, Mione. It'll hold up better when you play Quidditch." Her Dad winked at her and Mione saw her Mum roll her eyes.

"That's not guaranteed, Hank." She gave her husband a look that definitely indicated that the conversation would resume at another date.

As the four of them were finally there Nonky came over and served them breakfast. Mione was reaching for her pumpkin juice when she heard her Mum make a humming noise.

"Hermione, what is that?"

Mione swallowed hard, as her mother never called her by her full name unless it was something big. "What's what, Mum?"

"This." Melody reached across the table with her right hand and picked up Mione's hand. "A birthday present?"

"Hmmhmmm. It was in my presents this morning." Mione looked over to her Mum's wrist and saw the charm bracelet that she knew very well, as her Mum always wore it. There were lots of charms on the bracelet, unlike Mione's rather sparsely decorated version. "I don't' know who it's from, there wasn't a note."

Her father cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, well, do you think it's a good idea to wear a present from someone when you don't know who sent it?"

"I think she knows." Minnie smiled mischievously at her twin and raised an eyebrow. "Your boyfriend, right?"

"Hermione Helen, you have a boyfriend and you've never told us?" Melody let her daughter's hand go and looked at Hank. "Is that the same kind…"

"Yep." Hank nodded. "Gold instead of silver, though. I couldn't afford that one when I bought yours."

"You bought Mum's? I thought she'd always had it and you just added charms." Minnie looked over to her sister and both of them registered surprised expressions.

"Yes, I bought it for you mother before we were married. It's an enchanted bracelet." Hank looked over to Melody. "And they're not cheap."

Minnie stood up and blatantly looked at her watch. "Oh look at the time, we'll be late for class. Come on, Mione." She grabbed her sister's arm and the two of them walked out of the Great Hall as fast as they could.

* * *

Once they were safely away from their parents Minnie took a hold of Mione's arm and brought it up so she could see the bracelet. "It's beautiful. Just like Mum's, but gold. Scorpius sent it, didn't he?"

Mione frowned and pulled her arm gently away from her sister. "I don't know for sure. There wasn't a note."

"Dad said it's enchanted. Has it done anything?"

"Well, it tingled when I put it on, that's it." Mione reached out and smacked her sister on the arm. "Why'd you go and tell them I have a boyfriend?"

"I thought you could tell them. Come on, Mione, we're of age now. They can't do anything."

Mione shook her head. "They can do plenty, an' now I'll have both of them asking me a lot of questions."

Minnie looked at her feet for a moment. "Sorry." When she brought up her head she had a big smile. "Can I see it for a second?"

"Sure." Mione took off the bracelet and handed it to Minnie. After Minnie put it on the two sisters looked at each other, then the bracelet, and then back at each other. "Feel anything?"

"Nope." Minnie unclasped the bracelet, and when she did she cocked her head for a second and then brought the bracelet close to her face. "You didn't look at this very long, did you? I think you missed something." She held out the bracelet to Mione and pointed to the back of the clasp. There, in a very small script, was the engraved letter M.

"How did he send it? He's still with the army!" She took the bracelet from her sister and put it on her wrist. The moment the clasp was sealed once again she felt a little tingle.

"It did it again, didn't it?"

Mione smiled, nodded, and then looked down at the bracelet for a very long time.

* * *

Mione arrived late at breakfast the next day, hoping her father had already finished by the time she arrived. When she entered the Great Hall she didn't see her father, much to her relief. She sat at the farthest end away from the staff table, next to a couple of first year boys who looked terrified when she sat down next to them. The dark-haired boy had a _Daily_ _Prophet_ next to him, and when Mione saw part of an article she reached over and took the paper.

"Sorry, I'll give it back in a few minutes. Just need to read something."

As Mione unfolded the newspaper she saw the full headline and almost gasped. There, in the paper, was a picture of several soldiers standing in front of a building, smiling at the camera. She thought one of them was Scorpius for a moment, but it was only a soldier that sort of looked like him. Scanning down the article she did pick up the important points, the main one being that the war was shifting dramatically towards the good side, Scorpius' side. At the end of the article the writer even went so far as to predict that by Christmas the war would be over.

After handing the paper back to the boy the two first years got up and left Mione alone. She picked at her eggs. Could it really be possible? Would Scorpius be back by Christmas?

"What are you doing down here? I thought you'd missed breakfast because I didn't see you but then Megan Flotnik said that she saw you sitting down here with two first year boys and I didn't believe that because you never sit down here…"

"Hi Martha. Have you read today's Prophet?"

"No but I got my new _Witch Weekly_, your mum's got a really good article on the new enchanted makeup and how some people are having bad reactions to it, like one girl put on the eyeliner and even though it made her eyes look great it kept them open for three whole days and she couldn't sleep."

"Lovely." Mione ran her hand through her hair and pushed it back over her shoulder. "_The Prophet_ has an article about the war; they're saying that it could be over by Christmas."

"Mione, can I talk to you for a minute?"

The two Gryffindor girls looked up to see Hank Boyd standing over them.

"Oh, hi Professor Muggle." Martha stood up. "I was just telling Mione how I just got my copy of _Witch Weekly_ and there's a great article on enchanted makeup."

Hank nodded. "I'm glad you like it, Martha. I'll tell my wife." He pushed his glasses to the top of his head. "Do you mind giving us a bit of privacy?"

After Martha left Mione's heart jumped into her throat as her father sat down next to her. Instead of saying anything her dad just sat there next to her, sipping his tea. When she couldn't take it any longer she turned and looked at him. "I didn't want to say anything to you and Mum because of stuff like this. I knew you two, especially Mum, would go spare."

"Well, your mom and I did have a rather long talk last night. Hate to see what the Floo bill's going to be. I think I've probably got her calmed down enough, but it would probably be a good idea if you would introduce us to your boyfriend over Christmas. That's not the reason I stopped by, though."

"What? Now I'm confused. Did I do something wrong again?"

Hank laughed. "No, actually you did something very right, or lots of somethings. Anyway, I got this by owl this morning. Seems like they were just waiting until you turned seventeen, which doesn't explain why they sent it to me." He handed her a thick roll of parchment.

Mione took the parchment and unrolled it. At the top of the page she began reading but stopped after a few seconds and looked at her father. "I don't get it, Dad. Party of the first part? What is this?"

"Look at the last page, Mione."

After flipping through the pages she found out exactly what her father was talking about. There, on one side of the page, was the name and signature of Constantine Dungeness, general manager of the Wimbourne Wasps. "Holy shit!"

Hank broke out into a very loud, surprised laugh. "You're definitely my daughter, though I have no idea where you get your Quidditch skills."

"Can…can I sign it?"

"Are you seventeen? You make your own decisions now, though it might be a good idea to ask for advice every now and then." He handed her a very old fountain pen. "This was my grandfather's. I went up and got it out of my desk once I realized what I'd been sent by owl. I think it's appropriate. He was a huge baseball fan and would have loved the idea that his great-granddaughter is going to be a professional athlete."

Mione took the pen from her father and wrote her full name as slowly and legibly as possible. Her Dad fanned the ink for a while, and as he did so he took a look at her.

"I'm very proud of you, Mione. This is a very big deal, but that doesn't mean you can go through the rest of the year without trying. You won't play Quidditch forever, and you'll need something to fall back on in case it doesn't work out. But enough of that kind of talk, I think you'll do just fine. I expect you want to tell a few people, right?"

She almost jumped out of her seat and threw herself into her father's arms. "Oh Dad! I did it!"

Hank hugged her tightly and then held her out at arm's length. "You can use Calliope to send it off. I'm guessing you'll want to write a few other people as well. Perhaps your boyfriend? After that you'd better write your godfather, he'll be happy as hell for you, even though it's not Chudley."

Even though Mione wanted to tell everyone in the world that she was going to play for Wimbourne she only told a few of her friends at Hogwarts. She had to almost sit on Martha to keep her from telling everybody, and Minnie was over the top happy for her. She did write her Uncle Ron and received a letter back two hours later, telling her that he was proud of her and to take it easy on Chudley, amongst other things. James sent a letter so quickly that she knew he had to get the news from someone else as her letter couldn't have arrived in time for him to craft a response. It was obvious that her Uncle Ron had been busy, as she also got a letter from Rose and Simon. Rose's husband played for the Cannons, and told her that he was happy for her and that Christmas was definitely going to be interesting at The Burrow that year. The letter that made her happiest, though, was from Astoria Malfoy. Astoria told her that she knew that Mione would be great, and that she hoped her "broom dusting" over the years helped out.

* * *

The next day Mione was up at the crack of dawn, one of the first people in the Great Hall for breakfast. She'd even woken up Martha getting ready that morning, something that had never happened the entire time that Mione and Martha had been roommates. As she sat with her pumpkin juice that morning Mione kept looking for the post owls, hoping that they would come soon so she could see that day's _Daily_ _Prophet_. She knew it would be small, that it wouldn't be a big thing, but it would be there in the Quidditch news on the transactions section, the fact that she had signed a contract with Wimbourne.

The Great Hall had filled up with the regular early risers when the post came, dropping off letters for different people. Martha sat next to Mione and pointed towards the owls.

"Somebody's got a lot of mail today, wonder who it is? It's probably Millie Forbush, she gets tons of mail and magazines…" Martha stopped midstream, something that didn't happen very often. "Mione?"

A smile broke on Mione's face as five owls descended and landed in front of her, two bearing a very sizeable package wrapped in brown paper and tied with a string. Even though she was hungry Mione gladly fed all of her bacon to the owls after removing the letters and the package. She didn't realize that most of the Gryffindor table was watching her as she untied the string and moved the paper aside. There was a thick, black leather book with the Wasps logo on top; underneath the book was something soft. Mione sat the book aside and took out the item below, which after unfolding it turned out to be a black and yellow striped, long-sleeve practice jersey with horizontal black and yellow stripes. On the front was a wasp, and after turning the jersey over Mione saw "Boyd" printed in yellow letters on the black, back placket. She quickly sat the jersey on the table and opened the book. There, right after opening the book was a letter from the Wasps manager, giving her details on when she should report for training camp.

After that it didn't take long for the rest of the members of Gryffindor breakfasting at the time to realize what had happened. Mione was soon surrounded by well wishers, and finally Headmaster Longbottom even came down to figure out what was going on. He winked at Mione.

"With all those detentions for illegal broom rides I should have known."

After her classmates dispersed Mione opened her other letters. HR and Lily sent their congratulations, but two letters were more important. The first and most important letter was from her mum. It was a very nice, long letter that told Mione how proud she was, and like her father her mum reminded her that even though she was soon to be a professional athlete she had to keep up her school work. Surprisingly there was no mention of her boyfriend or questions about his identity. The second letter was from Ginny Potter, who wrote a very long letter giving her tips about how to manage being a professional Quidditch player with everyday life. Mione made a mental note to go visit Ginny as soon as she could.

* * *

Unfortunately for Mione and the rest of the wizarding world the war did not end by Christmas. She went home with her sister as usual, but as Simon Wood predicted Christmas Day at The Burrow definitely was an interesting event. After the regular Boyd Christmas they went to The Burrow, the same as every year, but this year was more raucous than ever. James brought his new girlfriend, Alice Longbottom, but that wasn't the big event. Even with the weather as nasty as always James started an impromptu Quidditch match.

After the match was over Mione headed inside to use the loo, and after coming out she heard her father's voice, but something inside told her to stop and listen.

"I'm not sure what to say to her, Arthur. We know she has a boyfriend, but she won't say who. There was a present for her under the tree, a Wimbourne Wasp logo to go on her bracelet. Melody and I have tried to get her to tell us who it is, but she won't say a word on the topic. When Mel or I try to ask she gets defensive and clams up."

"I want to use Veritaserum but Hank won't let me. She may be of age but I am her mum."

Mione cringed and took a step back.

"Well, it's best to let these things play out. I'm sure it's not that bad. Molly took a long time getting used to the fact that Bill married Fleur."

"And I wouldn't trade her for the world now." Mione recognized Molly's voice. "She'll tell you in her own time, dear. It can't be a Muggle; didn't you say her bracelet was from Fiona's Filigree?"

"Yep." It was her dad now. "Same bracelet I bought Melody, but in gold." She heard him sigh deeply. "I know I'm not much of a wizard, but it can't be that bad. Do you think she's embarrassed to introduce him to us?"

Mione loudly walked towards the room, making sure to sing a Christmas Carol on the way. When she got past the table where Arthur and Molly sat with her parents she made a beeline towards Gin. "I need to talk to you, now."

"What? Can't you see I'm playing chess with Uncle George? Oh hold on a second." Gin looked down and moved her queen. After her queen demolished George's king she stood up.

"We're not done yet!" George gave her a dirty look and then turned to the board. "Oh."

"Come on, I just have to know what's so bloody important." Gin grabbed Mione's arm and led her upstairs. When they finally got to the third floor landing she stopped and looked at her sister. "So what is it?"

"It's Mum and Dad. I want to tell them, but I want Scorpius here first. Have you heard anything from Hugo? You haven't told them either, have you?"

"Well…" Gin scrunched up her nose. "I talked to Mum the other day at work. She knows that Hugo and I are writing each other, I kind of let it slip."

"You never let something slip, Gin." Mione's eyes were wide. "No wonder Aunt Hermione was talking to you a lot after pudding."

"Mum knows, and Aunt Hermione knows, but that's it. And to answer your other question, no, I don't know when they'll be back, Hugo hasn't said."

"But the news is good in _The_ _Prophet_! It has to be over soon."

"Mione it's lasted five years. Nobody knows when it'll be over."

* * *

Much to her parents' delight Mione threw herself into her schoolwork, only taking breaks for Quidditch. She exchanged a letter with Frank Palladio, the manager of the Wasps, but the rest of her letter writing was reserved for Scorpius. By late April she was officially worried, as she hadn't heard from him since a very short letter after Christmas. Gin hadn't heard from Hugo, either, and the two sisters corresponded frequently, sharing their fears. Occasionally she would feel her bracelet tingle, though, and that kept her hopes up.

Waking very early to the room near the dungeons to do the fitness regiment that the Wasps' trainer had sent over Mione's mind was aflutter; she was excited about school being finished soon, worried about her NEWTS and definitely worried about Scorpius. To clear her head she launched herself into the exercises, eventually having to retie her hair back into a ponytail. It was after returning to her room to take a shower that she found herself being vigorously hugged by Martha.

"I'm all sweaty, Martha." She looked around to see her other roommates jumping on their beds, throwing pillows at each other and crying, sometimes all at the same time. "What the bloody hell is going on?"

"Headmaster Longbottom stopped by and told us! The war's over, Mione! It's over!"

Mione slipped from Martha's grasp and sat down on the floor. As she cried happy tears she felt her bracelet tingle stronger than it ever had before.

When she and her roommates made it down to the Common Room the place was in an uproar. One of the seventh year boys even grabbed a sixth year girl and gave her a kiss in front of everyone, bending her over slightly as he held her. When they finished he loudly told the room that the same kind of kiss was like the photograph in the Muggle Studies textbook and had happened after a Muggle war. The Gryffindors left the Common Room as a single house, every student together, and when they reached the Great Hall it was obvious that there weren't going to be any classes that day. Eventually Headmaster Longbottom got everyone to quiet down and addressed them.

"Today is a great day for everyone, but we need to remember those who gave their lives so we could reach this day. I'd like for us to have a moment of silence in their memory."

As Mione closed her eyes she couldn't believe it. The war was finally over, Scorpius was coming home!

Headmaster Longbottom's voice interrupted Mione's happy thoughts. "I don't believe there's any point to classes today." He held up the Daily Prophet, and the headline was big enough for almost everybody in the Great Hall to read it. There, in giant sized text, read the simple words, WAR IS OVER.

The rest of the day was a giant blur for Mione. Eventually she and her twin ended up in their father's room, all of them sitting at a little table. After talking with their dad for a while they watched him suddenly stand up, go to his cabinet and pull out a very dusty bottle.

"I've been saving this for a special occasion, and I sure as hell think this qualifies." He picked up three glasses, sat them on the table and uncorked the bottle. After pouring three drinks, one large one and two very small ones, he held up his glass. "It's over, it's finally fucking over."

Minnie and Mione looked at each other, shrugged, and took a drink. Mione gasped as the scotch burned through her chest, but when she looked over at Minnie she couldn't believe it; Minnie looked as if she'd just had a butterbeer.

"That's good, Dad." Minnie held out her glass. "A bit more this time, please."

"Minerva Lane!" Hank laughed. "Screw it, you're of age." He poured her a larger drink and turned to Mione. "How about you?"

Mione coughed. "I'm good."

"This calls for a cigar!" Hank walked over to his desk, rooted around for a while and eventually came back to the table with the biggest cigar Mione had ever seen. He took out his wand and a few seconds later a pitiful little fire formed at the end. After lighting his cigar he puffed on it for a moment and then looked at his daughters. "I can't believe it's finally over. Twenty-five damn years."

Minnie shook her head. "The war lasted five, Dad."

He shook his head. "It's been going on a lot longer than that, Min."

After debating whether or not to ask Mione finally couldn't take it any longer. "When do you think the soldiers will come home, Dad?"

"I don't know, girlie, but soon."

Mione sat there as her Dad puffed away on his cigar and her sister drank scotch. It couldn't be soon enough.


	8. The Two Week Bracelet

**Chapter 8: The Two Week Bracelet**

_Late May, 2029_

Mione stood at the train station with Minnie and Gin, ignoring the rain that had decided to fall at the very last minute. When they left Hogwarts the sun was shining, but now, in London at Platform 9¾, the rain was falling in a steady drizzle. Gin moved the umbrella slightly and Mione took a step closer to her sisters.

"Still can't believe Headmaster Longbottom gave us all a week of holiday. You're so lucky, Gin. You could probably just take off work and come down."

Gin chuckled. "Right. I might work for _Witch Weekly_ but it doesn't mean I get off easy. Besides, I don't really work for Mum, Amelia Lakeland's my boss. Everybody has the day off if they want it, Minister of Magic said so. You really think Mum's going to argue with him?"

The sisters looked at each other for a moment and then all of them simultaneously broke into laughter.

Mione looked over her shoulder towards her parents. Her father held the umbrella with one hand and her mother's hand with the other one. When Scorpius stepped off the train, and after she saw him, well, then she'd have to tell them.

"I see the train!" Minnie pointed down the track, and her comment seemed to be the signal for the crowd to begin to move forward, as people began to bump into each other.

As Gin was smashed next to her Mione had a sudden thought; what was Gin going to do when Hugo got off the train? How would she handle it? "Gin. Gin!"

"What? Train's almost here, can't it wait?" Gin held the umbrella high above her head and clicked a button, closing the umbrella. After pulling it down and fastening it quickly she looked over at Mione. "What?"

Mione reached over and pulled Gin close to her. "What are you going to do when you see Hugo?"

Gin took a deep breath. "We wrote each other about it. I'll give him a little hug and then we'll tell our parents. Nothing wild. Then we're going out for a really, really long dinner. Just the two of us."

"Right." Minnie shook her head. "Like anyone will let that happen. I doubt Hugo's going to be out of Aunt Hermione's sight for a month." She looked down the tracks and watched the train come closer, whistle blowing loudly. "Mione. Mione? Are the Malfoys coming today?"

Mione shook her head. "Mrs. M said that Mr. M didn't want to come out with everybody here. She said they'd trust me to welcome Scorpius home."

"Still can't believe they know but Mum and Dad don't know." Gin laughed giddily. "You could have been in Slytherin, sis."

"It's the short sisters. Hello, ladies."

Mione looked over and then looked up to see her brother. "HR, where's Lily?'

He shook his head. "I'm fine, Mione, thanks for asking. She's with Artie back at The Burrow with Granny Molly. Figured if she and Artie are there than it will keep Molly and Arthur inside instead of in this cold rain."

A very loud train whistle brought all conversation on the platform to a halt. Once the train stopped the crowd moved again, and as the steam billowed a porter walked forward and put down some steps to make it easier for the people to get off of the train. As he did so heads began poking out of windows, men and women waving, yelling, some throwing their caps. Finally the first person stepped off of the train, Major General Berninger. The cheers went up and when his wife and family made their way over to him he kissed his wife heartily and embraced his children.

That was the signal for what was later known as organized, happy chaos by the reporter from _The Daily Prophet_. Initially the plan was for each train car to let off their passengers and after they had departed the train the next car would follow suit. That was the plan, but instead every car opened up at once and all the passengers spilled out en masse. People were yelling names, holding signs, trying to get their special someone's attention. As Mione looked for Scorpius she saw one woman holding up her baby above the crowd.

Mione saw Gin elbow HR, and he leaned down and listened to her for a moment and then straightened up and began looking towards the end of the train cars. "Gin, what was that about?"

"He's taller than almost everybody here; he can find Hugo before anyone else."

As Mione debated whether or not to ask her brother to look for Scorpius she saw HR tap Gin on the shoulder and point to the far wall, the furthest point away from the tracks. Mione turned to look and she saw him, against the wall, walking towards them with a large bag hoisted over his shoulder.

"Come on!" Gin grabbed her arm, and she followed her sister as quickly as possible through the throng of people. Finally, after being able to see Hugo for a few minutes but not being able to get to him, they finally broke through and made it over to him. When Gin got to him she threw her arms around him and gave him a large hug. In turn Hugo hugged HR and Minnie, but after was Mione's turn he looked a little sad.

"He's not on this train, Mione. I'm sorry. He'll be along soon."

"What do you mean he's not on this train? What happened, Hugo?"

"Intelligence units are coming later. They're still finishing up a few things. It'll be soon, though."

Mione didn't have a chance to ask Hugo any more questions as they were surrounded by Hermione, Ron and her parents. Rose and Simon followed almost instantly after that, and it was just as Mione thought it would be, her Aunt Hermione was overcome with emotion and fussed over Hugo so much that she thought her Uncle Ron was going to have to stun her to get her off of Hugo.

It was as Harry and Ginny Potter arrived that Mione noticed that unbeknownst to anyone Hugo and Gin were holding hands. Almost anyone, though, as when George and Angelina joined them on their little open space on the platform he mentioned it immediately. Mione watched as Gin and Hugo looked at each other for a moment. She glanced over to her Mum and saw a strange look cross her face.

Before anyone could say anything took matters in hand, literally. "Bloody hell, I've waited too damn long." At that moment he took Gin in his arms and gave her a giant kiss.

* * *

The welcome home party for Hugo at The Burrow was, in George's words, "bloody spectacular." Lily and Molly Weasley had put together a feast containing every single one of Hugo's favorite foods. Bill and Fleur brought over a case of French chameleon champagne while Teddy and Victoire Lupin rolled in a barrel of butterbeer. Besides that, though, the big news of the night was Gin and Hugo's relationship.

Mione sat on the sofa with Simon and James, talking Quidditch, but soon the topic turned once again to Hugo and her sister. James elbowed her as the newly announced couple walked by.

"Still can't believe that. HR married Lily and now Hugo's dating Gin? This is like one of those soap operas on WeasleyVision."

"Tell me about it." Simon took a drink of firewhiskey. "Rosie couldn't stop talking about it. I love it when she actually gets surprised about something."

Mione felt her bracelet tingly sharply. "Um, she hasn't had any new visions has she? Anything with me in it?"

"No, don't worry, Mione, you'll do just fine with Wimbourne." Simon leaned back against the couch. "They're tough, decent, but still a few players away from being on the upper part of the table."

"Like you're one to talk." James reached behind Mione and flicked Simon's ear. "Cannons might make it out of the cellar this year."

"What'd I hear about the Cannons?" Ron Weasley walked around the corner and sat down across from the sofa. "Simon said they're getting better, and it's true. I've seen much better play." He grinned proudly at Mione. "And next season I'll have one more team that it'll be hard to watch the Cannons play. Remember when you do your interviews to tell them I got you your first broom, Mione."

She laughed at her godfather, but once again her bracelet tingled, stronger than the time before; stronger than it ever had since she'd owned it.

"Hey, we need a big firewhiskey over here, right away!" Mione looked over towards the door, but all she could see was her brother HR above everyone else motioning towards her father. "Another war hero just showed up!"

_Another war hero? It couldn't be._ Mione stood up quickly. "Um, excuse me." She made her way across the room, careful to not to get her hopes up. It was probably just one of Hugo's friends from the army. As soon as she got to the middle of the room she could see him clearly. Scorpius stood next to HR, her father and Harry Potter, but he saw her immediately and his mouth stood open in shock.

"Mione?" She turned around quickly to see Gin standing next to her. "Mione, what are…"

Gin never finished the sentence. Before she could even think about it Mione literally ran to Scorpius, jumped into his arms and gave him a very big kiss.

* * *

The shock of Gin and Hugo's relationship was one thing, but the revelation of Mione and Scorpius turned the celebration into a chaotic free for all. Mione and Scorpius sat on the sofa as everyone talked to them all at once. From her vantage point as the focus of the room Mione saw her Mum grab the bottle of scotch from her Dad's hand and drink straight from the bottle. Lily stood next to Rosie, their heads together close while HR and Simon stood as if they'd been hit with a silencing charm. A glance at the other side of the room revealed Hermione talking quickly to Ron as he looked as if someone had just told him the Cannons had won the title every year for twenty years and he'd just missed it. At last, after the words people were saying started to make sense, Mione had had enough. She stood up from the sofa and held up her hand. The Burrow went completely silent.

"That's about enough out of all of you. Scorpius and I have been writing each other for years, years! I'm of age now and I can date who I want. If you don't like it you can jump of the Astronomy tower." She grabbed Scorpius' hand and the two of them walked out of The Burrow into the misty rain.

Once they'd finally made it out to Arthur's shed Mione turned around and threw herself into Scorpius' arms. "I never thought you'd come home."

"I never thought you'd be this beautiful. You're amazing, Mione."

She looked up at him. "Oh quit it, I'm not the pretty one, that's Gin."

He shook his head. "No, you are." Scorpius looked back towards The Burrow. "What do you think is happening in there?"

"I don't know and I don't care. As soon as I'm done with Hogwarts I'm starting with the Wasps. It's my life now and I can do what I want. And after all those letters I just want to spend time with you."

"You have no idea how long I've waited to hear that." The two of them were silent for a long time until Scorpius gave a little laugh. "I take it you like the bracelet?"

"I love the bracelet. I didn't even notice the engraving until Minnie showed me."

"I got the idea from your Dad. He told us about it in Muggle Club once. Somehow that stuck in my memory."

The couple heard the back door open and close. Mione looked up to Scorpius. "I bet it's my Dad."

"Hey, you two want to come back in?" Hugo stood outside the door next to Gin. "I think they've calmed down."

When the Scorpius and Mione got close to them Mione went to her sister. "How bad is it?"

"Not too bad. Mum's hitting the firewhiskey a little hard, but you owe Rosie big time. She told them about her vision with you two."

"What?" Mione put her hand on her hip. "I asked her if she'd seen anything about me and she didn't say a bloody word!"

Hugo rubbed the stubble on his face. "Yeah, well, that's my sister. She doesn't tell all of her visions in case some of them don't come true. Doesn't want to plant ideas or give false hope. Mum's got Dad talking again, which is good. As long as you two don't pull an HR and Lily I think you'll live."

Gin pulled her sister close and whispered in her ear. "That was a hell of a first kiss, little sister."

As the two couples entered The Burrow Mione noticed that things were, in fact, much calmer than a few minutes ago. Rosie was talking animatedly to her father, but that was the only conversation that was a little bit louder than normal. When everyone realized that Mione and Scorpius were back inside, though, once again the house went silent.

Finally, though, Mione's Dad broke the ice. "That was a nice one, Scorpius, copying the bracelet idea. You had to go and one-up me and do it in gold, though, didn't you?"

Hugo's laugh surprised everyone. "You mean his two week bracelet?"

Mione looked over to Scorpius. "Two weeks? What's he talking about."

Scorpius took a deep breath. "I had to come over to Headquarters in London for training, as they transferred me to the Intelligence unit. We were all in a high security area, no contact with our families, no owls, nothing. I knew your birthday was coming up and as soon as I got my assignment I'd be out in the field, with no chance to get you anything. So one morning, right after our first session, during tea break I snuck out of Headquarters and went to Fiona's Filigree. I bought the bracelet, picked out the charms and had the engraving done. I paid them an extra Galleon to have it delivered on your birthday. I almost made it back in time but I got held up, and…well, let's just say they weren't happy."

"Not happy?" Hugo laughed and shook his head. "Try two weeks in the brig, not happy my arse. They were livid."

"You spent two weeks in trouble just to get me a birthday present?" Mione looked up at him. "Scorpius!"

"Completely worth it." He winked at her and smiled.

"Hermione Helen Boyd."

Mione cringed. Her mother had not only used her middle name, she'd used her full name. "Yes, Mum?"

"Don't you 'yes, Mum' me, young lady. Why didn't you tell us who sent you the bracelet when we asked you on your birthday?"

"Because I knew you'd freak out, Mum." Mione drew herself up to her full height. "And I didn't tell you before because you would have also freaked out if you would have found out that Scorpius and I have been writing to each other for five years. I'm seventeen now, Mum."

"Seventeen, it's a wonder they live to eighteen when they…"

"Shut up, Bill." Melody whipped around to focus on Mione again. "If you tell me that…"

"Mrs. Boyd, that's not possible." Scorpius took a step forward. "I've been deployed for a very long time. The last time I was back I saw Mione, but we weren't alone. Hugo and Gin were there, and we had a chaperone. It was only at Hogsmeade and…" Scorpius took a deep breath because he knew that it would sound bad if he told her that when she visited Malfoy Manor he was back on rotation. "I can guarantee you that nothing has happened before."

"Exactly!" Mione pulled her hair back brusquely. "In fact you just saw our very first kiss!"

"Minerva, Virginia, Hieronymus!" Mione watched as her siblings moved away from the crowd and edged forward. "Did any of you know about this?"

HR still looked shocked, but Mione could tell that even if Gin wouldn't break, eventually Minnie would. She shook her head. "Mum, it doesn't matter! Of course I told Minnie, I tell Minnie everything! Gin figured it out because she was writing Hugo." She looked up to her brother. "Sorry, HR."

Before her Mum could say anything else Mione watched her father stand up, take her Mum's hand and lead her away from the crowd. Mione knew that they would have another one of their famous 'discussions' and it would most likely end up with her Mum throwing shoes.

HR walked forward and stuck out his hand to Scorpius. "I know you're a decent bloke, but if you hurt my sister it won't be pretty."

Scorpius shook his hand. "Wouldn't dream of it. Besides, do you think she'd let me?"

* * *

Mione woke up early the next day in her bedroom at Colony House. At first she'd thought that the week's holiday was going to be wonderful, as Scorpius was home, but it soon realized after waking up that it was going to be a different story. When she went into the kitchen her father was sitting at the table as usual, drinking tea and reading _The Prophe_t. After fixing her tea she sat down and stirred it a little too long.

Hank let the top part of the paper fold down and he looked at his daughter over the paper. "I think you've stirred it long enough, Mione. God, I sound just like your Grandmum Lane."

"What do you mean, Dad?"

He sat the paper down on the table. "When I first got together with your mom, well, let's just say I had a very awkward visit one morning with your Grandmum. I did the same thing. I was very nervous, you know how your Grandmum is, and I stirred my tea for a very long time." He smiled slightly and shook his head. "Scorpius Malfoy, huh? Didn't see that one coming. Rosie did, though."

"Yeah, what did Rosie say? I missed that."

"Hmm…well, Rosie said that when y'all were getting fitted for dresses for HR and Lily's wedding she had a vision about you. She saw you and Scorpius, and it was just like last night, you jumped in his arms and gave him a kiss. So that was really your first kiss? With Scorpius?'

Mione felt her cheeks get warm and she knew she was blushing. "With anyone."

"Wow, kiddo, you really know how set a high bar." He took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. "No wonder you've asked me questions about Scorpius when he was at school. Letters for five years, huh?"

Mione nodded. "At first Mrs. M asked me to write to him so he'd have letters while he was away, and it just kind of went from there. He never talked about school much, but we talked about almost everything else." Mione took a sip of tea. "How's Mum doing?'

"Oh yeah, your Mum's going to need quite a few hangover potions. It's a good thing you didn't follow in your brother's footsteps or else I'd be trying to get shoes out of the ceiling again."

"The ceiling?"

"That's a story for another time. You'll need to go easy with your Mum. She's feeling pretty hurt that you didn't tell her, you know."

"You too?" Mione sunk back into her chair. "I'm sorry, Dad, but I knew that Mum would go spare, especially if she knew how long we'd been writing."

"Well, that is true. I have to ask, though, do Draco and Astoria know?"

Mione bit her lip slightly. "Promise me you won't get mad…"

Hank shook his head. "You know what I say about that phrase, right?"

She nodded. "When somebody says that it's usually something that will make them mad and that phrase is just an excuse. Ok, they do know, but they've only known for a year it was more than friendly letters. Mrs. M was the chaperone that Hugo talked about last night. When we went to Hogsmeade Mrs. M was there the whole time. I knew that if it was just Scorpius and me it wouldn't look good and you and Mum would hear about it."

Hank reached over and took his teacup. After a big sip he looked at Mione. "Well, you and Gin have definitely made things interesting around here. Anything else I should know? Minnie married to the bass player for the Weird Sisters?"

Mione laughed. "No, Dad. He's older than you!" Then Mione returned to her serious tone. "No, she's not secretly dating anyone, and if she was I know she would tell me."

"That's true; you two have always been incredibly close. Twin thing, I suppose. So what are your plans after Hogwarts?"

"I report to the Wasps' training camp, same as before. We're dating, Dad, we're not married."

"Good, good. And what about Scorpius? What's he going to do now that the war is over?'

"Well, Dad, he worked at the Ministry in the International Cooperation department before the war, but he's not sure. In one of his last letters he said he wanted to write a history of the war, from a soldier's perspective. Mr. M wants him to work for the family business, of course, but I don't think he wants to do that. He just got home yesterday after five years, give him some time, Dad. And we're not HR and Lily, we're just dating."

"Right. A writer, huh? He always did borrow a lot of my books."

Mione was spared her father's usual talk on Muggle literature by an owl. She quickly got up from the table and took the letter, gave the owl a treat and sent it on its way. A quick look at the handwriting on the letter made it obvious to Mione that it was from Scorpius. Ignoring her father's interest she quickly opened the letter. A few minutes later she looked over to her dad.

"Dad? Mr. and Mrs. M have invited me over for lunch today. Can I go?"

He held up his hands. "You're of age now, Mione. It's your decision."

Mione looked at the letter in her hands. Yes, it was her decision now.

* * *

When Mione arrived at Malfoy Manor she was extremely pleased with herself, as it was the first time since she'd passed her Apparition test that she'd gone very far, and the distance from Stintborough to Colony House wasn't small. As she knocked on the door she couldn't help but smile; Scorpius was home, her parents knew, and things were different.

The door opened and Blink, the Malfoy's house elf, stood in front of her. "Mistress Mione, good to see you, it is. Master Scorpius will be very pleased. Pleased. Follow me."

As Mione followed Blink through the old part of the house she almost bounced when she walked. When they entered Astoria's favorite room it was a bit of a shock, though. Instead of Scorpius or Astoria meeting her, it was Draco Malfoy. That in and of itself wasn't strange, as she and Draco got on very well, it was what he was wearing. Instead of his usual dark clothing, what Mione thought of as grown-up clothing, he sat on the sofa wearing a faded pair of jeans, an untucked short sleeved shirt and trainers.

"Ah, Mione, so glad you could join us today. Thank you, Blink."

The house elf bowed and left the room. Mione walked forward and, surprisingly, Draco gave her a small hug.

"Thank you for inviting me, Mr. M."

He smiled at her and then motioned towards a chair. Once Mione had seated herself Draco crossed his legs. "I suppose you are wondering about my attire? I'm afraid that I will not be able to stay at the Manor today, as I have a business meeting in New Orleans."

"Today?" Mione frowned. "But Scorpius just got home!"

"I believe that I said a meeting, not a holiday. I will return later tonight. I am afraid it cannot be helped, and I am sure that my departure will leave Scorpius in capable hands."

Before she could respond Astoria and Scorpius entered, with Scorpius pushing his mum's wheelchair. Both of their faces lit up when they saw Mione. After giving Scorpius a small kiss, and thinking that she could get used to that, Mione looked over to Astoria.

"Thank you so much for inviting me over, Mrs. M."

Astoria patted her on the arm. "No trouble at all, my dear. I suspected that you wouldn't mind having some time away from home after last night. Scorpius told us everything."

"Why are you still wearing your uniform?" Mione looked over to Scorpius. "I would think you'd want to wear regular clothes."

He shook his head and shrugged. "Nothing fits anymore. I tried to expand things but they all unraveled. Maybe we can go shopping after lunch?"

"That sounds like a very good idea." Astoria wheeled herself over to the small table, took out her wand and made the table expand so it was the perfect height for lunch. "I believe we shall eat in here today."

As Mione and the Malfoys had a nice lunch the topic quickly turned to Mione's schedule after Hogwarts. She explained that once NEWTS were over and Hogwarts was finished she had two weeks off until she had to report to the Wasps' training camp. That was the happy part of the conversation, but soon the focus turned to Scorpius and his plans.

"Dad, I know you want me to join you in the family business, but I don't think it's for me. Not right now, anyway. I've missed a lot of things."

Astoria smiled. "I'm sure you have, dear."

Mione felt her face grow warm and looked at her plate for a moment.

"Yes, son, but soon you'll need to decide. You can imagine what sorts of conversations will take place if you decide to remain idle for long."

Scorpius nodded. "Yes, Dad, I know. Before we were discharged we had a meeting, I can still take up my old job at the Ministry if I want to. Not sure if it'll be exactly the same thing, but it would still be in International Relations. To be honest I've seen enough of the world, I just want to be home for a while."

Draco stood up. "That may be, but I'm afraid my obligations for today like elsewhere. I'm sorry, but I must be going." He leaned over and kissed Astoria on the cheek. "Mione, I leave him in your care."

"Dad!" Scorpius shook his head. "I'm a grown man, a veteran, and you're telling Mione to take care of me? She's still in Hogwarts."

A sly smile dawned on Draco's face. "From what you relayed about last night I have no doubt, Hogwarts or otherwise, that she is eminently capable."

After Draco left Astoria took a deep breath. "Yes, well I suppose the two of you need to go to the shops. I believe I'll write a note to your mum, Mione. Might be a good idea to have your parents over soon. Scorpius, your father has withdrawn some funds for you, they're on the entryway table. If you need more please stop by Gringott's."

* * *

Mione and Scorpius walked through Diagon Alley hand in hand, attracting more than a few curious stares. After spending a large amount of time in Madame Malkin's they exited with only a few bags, as the staff of the shop would send the rest along to Malfoy Manor. Mione was happy with Scorpius' choices, and especially happy that he had selected the pale green shirt that she thought looked so good on him. As they continued down the street Scorpius suddenly stopped in front of one shop.

"Should we go in and see what's new?"

Mione looked at the sign. She'd stood in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies many times, usually dreaming about how well she could fly for Gryffindor if only her father had let her borrow enough money for a top-flight broom. "Sure."

As they opened the door a little Snitch-shaped bell rang. Soon they were met by a man whose face looked permanently flushed. "Hello, looking for anything in particular?" Then his eyes focused on Scorpius' uniform. He stuck out his hand. "Thank you for your service. Anything you want in the shop is ten percent off, veteran's discount. Least I can do. Thank you again."

Scorpius looked somewhat shocked and Mione stifled a grin. "You're welcome, sir. Thank you." He turned to Mione. "Hear that, Mione? Pick out anything you want."

"Mione?" The man squinted and rubbed his chin. "Hold on a mo." He walked back to the back of the shop and returned a few moments later holding a large, leather-bound ledger. "Let's see here…yes, yes, that's what I thought. Wimbourne Wasps. You're a little early, didn't expect to see you after June. No matter, let's get you sorted." He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for and motioned for the couple to follow him.

Mione stood stock still and looked over at Scorpius, plainly confused. "Get me sorted? What's he talking about?"

"No idea." Scorpius laughed. "But I think you're probably going to be happy."

Scorpius' comments were an understatement. The man at the shop had the list of items provided to each Quidditch team, and best of all in Mione's mind was the broom. The Wasps had a contract with the Firebolt broom company, and Mione was handed her very own, top of the line, exorbitantly priced Firebolt. Training gear, among everything else, was also provided, but a smile crept across Mione's face as she saw the broom maintenance kit.

"Thanks, sir, but I've already got that one. Birthday present."

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Now you've got a spare. Everyone gets the same thing."

Mione felt as if she was walking on air after they left the shop and wasn't paying any attention as she and Scorpius continued down Diagon Alley. Soon though, she followed him into another shop. As soon as she realized where they were she gasped slightly.

"Ah, Lieutenant Malfoy, so good to see you again! And this must be your special someone!" The elderly witch with jet-black hair smiled at them. "Are we looking at more charms today? Anything else you might be thinking of?"

"Charms, please." Scorpius smiled at Mione. "I think you need to pick one out. Anything you want."

Mione followed the witch over to the case, and while she was looking at all the different options she recognized some of the same charms that were on her mum's charm bracelet. While looking at the charms she noticed that Scorpius wasn't standing next to her anymore; instead he was at a different case with the witch. After walking over there she saw Scorpius seemed nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Mione. Just looking at watches. Lost mine a few years ago, just never had it replaced." He looked over to the witch who was now behind the display case. "Um, can I see that one, please?" He pointed to a very plain but nice watch with a black leather band. After putting it on he looked at it for a moment and then returned it to the witch. "Thank you, I think I'll be back later for that. Find something you like, Mione?"

As Mione walked back to the charms case she noticed that next to the watches the adjoining case was filled with wedding bands and engagement rings.


	9. Thank You, Grandmum

**Chapter 9: Thank You, Grandmum**

_2029_

Mione was flat on her back, looking at the Quidditch posters above her bed. Colony House had been weird ever since Hugo's party at The Burrow; her parents had been outwardly supportive of her and Scorpius but she knew that her mum had reservations. Everyone was nice to her, even her godparents, but she could tell that there was still some stigma to the name Malfoy. Yes, everyone liked Scorpius, but she knew that if his last name was Johnson or Higgins or anything else that there wouldn't be any of the odd looks or hesitations. Mrs. M had warned her that people may look at her differently when it finally became public knowledge that she and Scorpius were dating, but she hadn't really paid much attention. Now, though, it was quite obvious that she should have listened closely.

After rolling over to be flat on her stomach Mione looked over to Minnie's side of the room, noticing how neat and tidy it was compared to her side. She wasn't a total slob, but Minnie was overly neat in her opinion; part of their Godmother Hermione's influence, as well as their mum's. Whenever Mum started in on the state of Mione's side of the room, all she had to do was mention her father's level of housekeeping, especially his pile of clothes by the side of the bed, and that was usually enough to get her out of cleaning. She promised herself that when she got her own flat, after joining Wimbourne, that she would not be as picky as her mum about cleaning.

"Ready to head back?" Minnie stood in the doorway, chewing on something.

"What are you eating?"

"Beef jerky. Uncle Nate sent it over. Apparently he and Dad used to eat it all the time on long car trips. It's kind of like chewing somewhat tasty leather."

"Nasty." Mione watched her father's giant, elderly cat walk by Minnie and sniff interestedly. "Looks like Virgil wants some. How old is he, anyway? He's ancient."

Minnie broke off a small piece of beef jerky and bent down so that Virgil wouldn't have to stretch. "I think Mum said he's older than HR, but not by much. You never answered my question."

"I don't know. I mean, I'm ready to go and get everything out of the way so I can report to the Wasps, but I'm not looking forward to going back to school."

"It'll be fine. When have you ever worried what anybody says? You're too much like Mum."

"I am not like Mum!" Mione shook her head. "I'm nothing like Mum. 'Oh don't get in trouble, Mione. You have to be good, Mione.' Bollocks."

"You never let anybody tell you what to do, just like Mum. You got a letter this morning. If you're not interested…"

Mione sprang off of the bed and took the letter out of her sister's hands. After looking at the handwriting, though, her face fell. "Why is Aunt Hermione writing me?"

"It's a letter, Mione. You open it up, there's writing inside and you find out what someone has to say."

After smacking her sister softly over the head with the letter Mione stuck her tongue out. "And you're supposed to be the smart one. Fine, if you're so smart, Minnie, what are you doing when we're done with Hogwarts? Straight off to Minister of Magic?"

Minnie looked down and adjusted her watch on her wrist. "It's not confirmed yet, I don't want to say anything."

Mione put her hand on her hip. "Right. You're keeping a secret about a job from me after you've known about Scorpius for years, because they're the same kind of secrets. Spill."

After laughing for a bit Minnie relented. "Ok, but don't tell them yet. I'm not sure what Dad will say, because it's kind of cashing in on his work…"

"Let me guess, you're going to teach Muggle Studies?"

"No." Minnie shook her head. "Well, not just Muggle Studies, History of Magic, too. Maybe. I have to be an adjunct professor for a few years first, and then maybe a full-time professor. It's in Wales, Mione. Little magical school called Pryderi."

Mione sat back down on the bed. "Wales? Merlin, Minnie. I thought it was bad enough that HR an' Lily live all the way over in London, and Gin's got her own flat there as well, but you're going to Wales? How'd this happen?"

Minnie sat on the bed next to Mione. "I had the career talk with Aunt Cho, you know the one. I said that I'd really like to teach, an' she knows about my History of Magic grades. I guess all the magical schools get letters about promising students, in case they want to teach at other schools, an' Pryderi sent out a letter saying they were looking for someone to help teach. Their professor wants to retire soon, he's rather old. They sent a letter back to Aunt Cho about me, saying they'd take me on as an adjunct professor pending an interview and only if I'd also help out in Muggle Studies. They have Dad's textbook, of course. So after Hogwarts I'm going to Wales to talk to them. It's not a done deal yet, but I haven't told Mum and Dad because it's over in Wales. Plus I've never taken Muggle Studies in my life."

As it all washed over her Mione realized that the days of sharing everything, absolutely everything with Minnie were drawing to an end. Soon she'd be with the Wasps and Minnie would be over in Wales. "Wow, that's great."

Minnie could tell from Mione's lack of enthusiasm that she was just now realizing what she'd known for a long time. "We knew this day would come, Mione. I think the Sorting Hat tried to prepare us for this, putting us in different houses. We'll still have letters and holidays, plus you'll be travelling all over the world with the Wasps."

"If I make the team." Mione's shoulders slumped as she turned her godmother's letter over and over in her hands. She felt her sister's arm go around her shoulder. "I might not, you know. This is a professional Quidditch team, not Gryffindor."

"You'll be great."

* * *

At noon Mione arrived at the Ministry of Magic visitor's entrance. The security guard had her wait for a moment, but it didn't take long as her Uncle Ron's secretary smiled and walked towards her.

"Good to see you again, Mione. How long has it been?"

"Hi Edith. Mmmm, not sure. Couple of years, at least, that dinner party at Colony House."

Edith pulled a face. "Right. I was still with my ex-husband then. Let's forget about that and get you up to Ron's office."

"Ron?" Mione put on her visitor's badge and walked with Edith though the mass of people in the Ministry. "I thought I was here to see Aunt Hermione?"

The two witches stepped aboard the half-full lift. "Slight change of plans. Afternoon, Cuthbert."

The wizard glanced over and nodded at them unceremoniously and returned to his parchment. The elevator was silent as they made their way to the Auror's floor. After leaving the lift Edith looked over to Mione and shook her head. "He's still upset about a meeting last week. Honestly, you can't do those kinds of things with fish. Oh well, let's go."

After winding their way through the Auror department they eventually made their way to Ron Weasley's office. The door was open slightly and Edith nodded her head in that direction, which Mione interpreted as a 'go on in' gesture. She opened the door and found not only her Uncle Ron in his office, but also her Aunt Hermione and her Uncle Harry.

"Mione, so glad you could join us." Hermione smiled at her and glanced quickly over to Ron and Harry. "Would you like some tea?'

Mione's eyes narrowed as she looked at her godmother, her Uncle Harry and finally landed on her godfather. She looked at him for a while before he looked down and began shuffling papers on his desk. After sitting in the comfortable chair that Hermione conjured Mione took a deep breath. "No tea. What is it?"

"Well…" Hermione started, and then looked at her husband and Harry. "We were talking the other night, and we felt you needed to hear some things."

"About the Malfoys, right?" Mione rolled her eyes. "I know about what happened a long time ago. A long time ago, remember?"

"Yeah, we remember very well." Ron leaned back in his chair. "And we remember things that nobody else knows about."

Mione could feel her temperature rising. "It's not like that anymore. Mr. M is different. Dad says so an' even Mum says so. Why can't you three let it go?"

"Let it go?" Harry leaned forward in his chair. "Mione, the three of us, more than anyone in the world, have let it go. We're at a place now where we can move forward, but it's taken a long time to get there."

"We didn't have you come here so we could tell you not to go out with Scorpius, Blondie." Ron gave her a sad smile. "From everything I know and what Hugo's told us, Scorpius is a good kid. Reports I got on him from the field were bloody good. Smart, level head on his shoulders, treated his soldiers well. They were very loyal to him. There was more than one dustup about him being a Malfoy, though, and that's why you're here."

"Mrs. M told me about some of the things that happened to her because she married Mr. M." Mione raised an eyebrow at Ron. "You're saying there's more?"

The three adults looked at each other for a moment until Hermione closed her eyes and gave a small nod. Ron cleared his throat. "Yes, I'm afraid there is. You know from History of Magic that the three of us were captured in Malfoy Manor, right? And how we got out?"

Mione glanced over at Harry and saw a sad look cross his face. "Dobby."

"Yes." Ron paused for several moments. "What History of Magic doesn't teach you is exactly what happened there, before Dobby got us out. Your godmother was tortured there by Bellatrix Lestrange."

Mione couldn't say anything. She looked at her godmother, but Hermione was looking down at her hands, playing with her wedding ring. _Bellatrix Lestrange? Mr. M's aunt?_ "Why…Voldemort, right?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Now, Malfoy has done a lot since then to try to make up for things, but in a lot of peoples' opinion he never will. Unfortunately some of that will reflect on Scorpius, simply because of who he is, and you need to understand why some people will not be very happy to hear that you two are dating."

The anger that had been building in Mione hit its boiling point. "I don't care what they say; Scorpius is not like Mr. M used to be back then. I know what Lucius Malfoy did; I've read about it and even talked to Mr. M about it. He was a rotten bastard and deserved what he got. Even Mr. M is glad he's dead now, even if his ghost is still in the old part of the Manor. I can date who I bloody well want and if people don't like it they can piss off."

The reaction of the three adults was not what Mione expected, especially as Harry chuckled. He looked over to Hermione and smiled. "Like Mum, like daughter."

_Like her mum?_ Mione gave him a confused look. "What do you mean, I'm like Mum?"

Hermione waved Harry off. "When your Mum and Dad got together, there were a lot of people who thought they shouldn't be together, especially as everyone thought he was a complete Muggle. It wasn't easy for them, especially with your Grandmother Bramble. Even after we found out your Dad has a little magical ability people weren't very nice. Your Mum wouldn't hear about it, of course, and had about the same reaction as you just now. You're more alike than you know, Mione."

That comment caused Mione to sit there for a while. _Was she really like her Mum?_

"Right. I'm hungry." Mione looked up to see her godfather Ron with an awkward smile on his face. "Chinese takeaway?"

* * *

When Mione arrived back at Colony House everything was quiet. After looking through the house she realized that Minnie was out, as well as her father. After making her way down to the basement rooms she found her Mum, sitting in the rocking chair, with her grandson Artie on her chest, both of them asleep. She tried to leave quietly, but somehow her Mum heard her, as always.

"Mione. Did you just get back?" Melody straightened up, picked Artie up in her arms and put him down on the sofa. After casting a cushioning charm on the floor in case he rolled off, she looked over at her daughter. "How's Hermione doing today?"

Mione sat in a chair next to the sofa and watched her mum sit down opposite of her. "Good, I guess. It was more than Hermione, though. Ron and Harry were there, too."

"Oh my." Melody sat back in the chair. "And how did that go?"

"Ok, I guess." Mione turned in her chair, putting her back against one arm and draping her legs over the other one, something she knew her mum hated but at that point she didn't care. "They wanted to talk to me about some of the things that happened a long time ago at Malfoy Manor. In the old part of the house, the part Mr. and Mrs. M don't go in anymore." After a silence Mione looked at her mum. "Is it true that people were mean to you because you were dating Dad?"

Melody absentmindedly began to finger her charm bracelet. "Yes, sweetie, it is true. I know you know the stories, but think about it. When your father came here he was a Muggle teaching at Hogwarts, American at that, and much older than me. Your grandmum Bramble was definitely not pleased, and one morning she showed up unexpectedly and I kind of let her have it. Even told her about my tattoo, if I remember correctly."

"Mum! You have a tattoo?" Mione sat up and leaned over the arm of the chair to be closer to her mum. "You've never told me that before? Where?"

"It's on my hip, Mione, but that's not the point. They are right, I had to put up with a lot, especially one horrid woman at Madame Malkin's. Eventually your grandmum came around, and you know how she is with your father now. I swear some days she would rather talk to him than me. Speaking of which, Mione, we need to go see her soon. She's not well, lately, and frankly I'm worried."

"What's wrong with Grandmum?"

Melody shrugged. "We're not sure, sweetie. Apparently she's been ill for quite some time but decided not to tell me. I'm supposed to go to St. Mungo's with her after you and your sister go back to Hogwarts."

The two of them sat there for a while, their thoughts interrupted only by Artie, who managed to roll off the sofa, hit the cushioning charm and then rolled over on the floor and returned to his nap. Mione was closest to the sofa, so she picked him up and put him back down, this time placing a pillow on the side to keep him in place. After that was completed, she looked over to her mum. "You know, Uncle Harry says we're a lot alike."

Melody pushed her glasses to the top of her head, and as she did so her silver charm bracelet jingled. "Your Uncle Harry…I swear, that man. He's lucky Ginny lets him live most days." After chuckling she looked over to her daughter. "He is right, though. When you were little your Grandmum said that I finally got what I deserved, a daughter just like me. You should have heard her, 'oh Gwennie, she's just as headstrong as you used to be.' I think she enjoyed that a little too much."

"That's funny, I always thought Gin was her favorite."

"She and Gin may share a love for art, but I don't think she has favorites, Mione." Melody took a deep breath. "Scorpius Malfoy, Mione? Of all the boys…"

"Men. He's not a boy, Mum."

"Men, then…of all the men in the world, you pick Scorpius Malfoy? Then again, you really don't care what people say, do you?"

Mione felt her bracelet tingle slightly. "No, Mum, I really don't."

Melody put her hand on her daughter's arm. "Merlin help you, girl, you definitely are my daughter."

* * *

When Mione arrived back at Hogwarts it was obvious that her Diagon Alley shopping trip with Scorpius did not go unnoticed, as Martha almost jumped on her the minute she arrived in her room.

"Oh my Merlin, Mione, Scorpius Malfoy? He's so much older, and kind of cute if you like blondes, and I thought since you were a blonde you would want to go out with someone with different hair, but then again he's a war hero and you should hear what Esmerelda Pitsmouth said about him, I told her to stick a sock in her ugly mouth with too much lipstick on it, it was the most horrible shade of purple you've ever seen, definitely the wrong color for her with her hair…"

"Good grief, Martha, take a breath!" Mione held her at arm's length. "Esmerelda's being her usual bitchy self, huh? So what." She let go of her roommate and went over to her bed, where she fell into it as if falling into a lake. "Esmerelda Pitsmouth can go kiss the squid."

Martha sat on the end of Mione's bed, almost bouncing. "He sent you the bracelet, didn't he? I know it was him."

Mione leaned up and looked at Martha, shocked that she had stopped speaking. "Uh, yeah, he did. Are you ok?"

Her roommate nodded. "Just fine, Mum and Dad said that after Hogwarts we're going on a holiday to America, not just the UMS but the Muggle parts, too. I need suggestions, because they're going to want to do the boring stuff, but I know you've been over there to your grandparents and to your aunt and uncle's and…"

Mione chuckled. She should have known that Martha was nervous, as when she was nervous, unlike some people who talk too much, Martha did the opposite and didn't say much. "It's ok, I'll help you out. I'll send Uncle Nate a letter, find out the cool stuff, will that work?"

That night at supper Mione sat at the Gryffindor table as usual, but she noticed that several of the seventh years she'd know her entire time at Hogwarts didn't speak to her; instead they looked away and sat at the other end of the table. Mione realized exactly what her godparents and Harry were trying to tell her, as she knew exactly why they were being they way they were. She ignored them and dove into her supper; after all, she only had to put up with them for a little more than a month and then she'd be with the Wasps.

As Martha chattered on about everything and absolutely nothing Mione saw her sister walk over and sit down next to her.

"Mione, I got another letter."

After she finished chewing Mione looked over to her sister. "Well, what? What'd it say?"

"They want me to come interview the day after we get out of Hogwarts. That's a good sign, isn't it?"

Mione nodded. "Oh yeah, that's a great sign."

"Hi Professor Muggle! I was just telling Mione that I think it's great that she and Scorpius are dating but it's odd since both of them are blonde…"

"Thank you, Martha. Perhaps another time." Hank Boyd stood nervously at the table. "Martha, can you excuse us for a moment? I need to speak with my daughters."

Mione and Minnie looked at each other, not sure what was going on, and soon Martha had left the table. Their father sat opposite of them with a letter in his hand.

"Girls, I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to come out and say it. Your Grandmother Bramble is dying. We need to go to Forthingsgate immediately. Don't worry about anything, Neville knows what's going on. Come on, we're using the Floo in his office."

Mione and Minnie tried to have their father explain on the way to the Headmaster's office, but all he would say was that even the best magical Healers couldn't cure cancer. Once they made it into Uncle Neville's office their father walked over to the portrait of Minerva McGonagall.

"She just left the house, Hank. Be gentle, she's not taking it well."

"Thank you, Minerva."

The twins looked at each other and Mione noticed Minnie's eyes were beginning to well up. They took the Floo powder, said 'Forthingsgate' and soon were no longer at Hogwarts.

* * *

HR met them at the fireplace when they arrived. "Lily's with Mum, Gin's on her way."

"Thanks, son." Hank put a hand on HR's shoulder. "How's she doing?"

HR shook his head. "Not good. Healer said it could be any time now, her lungs are failing."

The noise of the Floo could be heard, revealing Gin and Hugo Weasley. Gin didn't bother to dust off the Floo powder. "Dad?"

He shook his head. "It's not good, Gin."

Lily came towards them, holding Artie. "He needs a nap. Hugo, would you mind?"

"Not at all, Lils. Go on, I'll take care of him."

Mione watched Hugo put Artie on his shoulder and walk out of the room. She stood there with her family, uncertain of what to do next. Finally her Dad broke the silence.

"Ok, now you kids need to prepare yourself. She's not going to be able to talk a lot, but she wanted to see you. Come on."

As they entered their Grandmum's bedroom Mione felt her stomach fall away; her Grandmum Lane was half-propped in her bed on a mass of pillows, and next to her was her Mum and an elderly Healer. When she saw her grandchildren Lane managed a weak smile.

"Ah, my girls. Come here, lovelies."

Mione crowded around her Grandmum's bed with her sisters. It seemed so odd to see her Grandmum this way, her long, still blonde hair fanned around her shoulders, no makeup or jewelry, in an ancient, faded red housecoat covering her pajamas.

"I am so proud of each of you. You've given me more joy than I ever anticipated. Don't cry, Minnie, it's not sad. I'll finally be able to see your grandfather again. It's been too long." She turned to Melody. "Stop blubbering, Gwennie, we both knew this day would come." She coughed for several minutes, causing the Healer to step in and check on her.

"Only a few minutes, please. Talking makes it worse."

"Sod off." Lane looked over to the Healer. "I'm speaking to my grandchildren."

Gin laughed nervously and Mione watched the Healer straighten up and leave the room.

"Before they put me in the ground I need to say a few things. I haven't always been the best person, especially towards your father, and I regret that."

"Water under the bridge, Lane." Hank smiled fondly at her. "Ancient history."

"That may be, Henry, but it is true. I wish I could be around to see what turns your lives will take. HR and Lily have already given me a great-grandson, but…"

Another round of coughing, this time worse than the previous episode, interrupted Lane. Blood appeared on the corners of her lips, and Melody took out a handkerchief and wiped it away.

"Thank you, Gwennie. I wish your grandfather could see you now. He'd be so proud. I know I am. Live your lives to the fullest, children. I love each of you very much."

Another round of coughing started, this time with much more blood. Mione watched her parents exchanged pained looks, and she knew it was almost time. She went forward, gave her Grandmum a hug and a kiss, and then moved out of the way so her siblings could do the same. After that they went into the sitting room where Hugo was rocking in a chair with Artie.

The Boyd children, Lily and Hugo sat there for quite some time, nobody saying a word, each of them wrapped in their own thoughts. When they heard their Mum cry loudly, Mione looked over to HR and he simply nodded. Soon their father came out of the room and sat down quietly on the sofa.

"She's gone."

Hugo put his arm around Gin's waist, as she stood next to him by the rocking chair. HR held Lily tightly, leaving Mione to look to her twin. Minnie was crying full stop. When Melody came into the room, her face a mess of tears, Mione got up and gave her a very long hug.

* * *

Much later that night as her Dad and HR met the man from the funeral home in the study, Mione noticed another person arrive by Floo, an old, bald-headed man in a very expensive robe. "Can I help you?" She walked over to the man. "I'm sorry, but this really isn't a good time."

He nodded. "I am sorry for your loss, but I am following Mrs. Bramble's orders. My name is Alexander Whinsturp, and Mrs. Bramble's wishes were clear, very clear. May I speak to Melody Boyd, please?"

Mione led the man into the large sitting room, and when her mum saw him she sniffed, wiped her eyes, and stood up quickly.

"Alexander, I should have expected you. Mum is…was always prompt about these things."

He took her hand. "I'm so sorry, Gwennie. She'd been preparing for this day, especially the last few months. Where would you like me to set up?"

As Melody led the man into the formal dining room Mione turned to Gin. "Any idea who that is?'

"Probably Grandmum's lawyer."

They didn't have to wait long as HR came in and had everyone join them in the formal dining room. Hugo offered to stay with Artie, as he wasn't family, and Lily nodded her head. Soon everyone was seated around the table, with the lawyer at the head, his papers spread about.

"I apologize for the suddenness of my arrival, but Mrs. Bramble left very strict orders. I'm here to read the last will and testament of Lane Gertrude Fitzworth Bramble."

Mione looked at her family, wondering why her Grandmum had insisted this take place immediately. _Couldn't it have waited a few days? _She found herself looking around the room, wondering what would become of the house. Her Mum and Dad would probably move in; after all, it was the house where her mum grew up. She half-listened to the lawyer go on about things, something about 'divided equally' or some such, but she wasn't really listening, as her bracelet began to tingle slightly. The talk seemed to go on forever, and after a while she wished she could talk to Scorpius and was trying to figure out if she could get away with it when Minnie elbowed her.

"Sorry, Min. What is it?"

Minnie's eyes went towards their mum. "What do you want to do with it?"

_It? What was she talking about?_ "I'm sorry, haven't been listening. Thinking about stuff."

Melody looked over to her daughter. "Girls, it's about the house. HR and Lily have their own place, Gin has just informed me that she's going to be travelling to Italy next year for an apprenticeship with a portrait painter, and so that leaves you two. Your Grandmum left the house to you children, so it's up to you two to decide what to do with it."

The twins exchanged glances. Mione knew that Minnie would be going to Wales to interview soon, and it didn't take one of Rosie's visions to realize that her sister would probably get the job, as if there was ever a born teacher, even more so than her Dad, it was Minnie. Without saying a word to her sister Mione knew what to do.

"I want it to stay in the family. I couldn't bear to see someone else living here." She looked at Minnie and saw that she'd made the right move, as Minnie closed her eyes briefly. "But not until I finish Hogwarts."

Minnie nodded her head. "I don't know what I want to do yet, an' Mione would know how to clean it better. She's worked at Malfoy Manor all those years."

Mione kicked her sister under the table, as they both knew she really didn't clean over at the Manor. She looked over to her parents. "You don't want to move here?"

Her mum shook her head. "Colony House is home, it's where I brought each of you after you were born. I don't think I'll ever move. Mione, are you sure?"

After she nodded Hank looked over to the lawyer. "Thank you, Mr. Whinsturp. We'll do the official papers later, if you don't mind."

As they all left the room Mione stayed at the table. _The house, this gigantic, beautiful house, was hers? _

"Mistress Mione, can I get you anything?" A small, wrinkled female house-elf stood at her side.

"Leeky! I'm fine, thanks. Why ask me?"

Leeky bowed her head. "Mistress Lane asked that I look after the grandchild that inherited the house, she did. Will you stay tonight? Do you want me to prepare a bedroom?"

Mione's hands went to her mouth. Finally she looked down at Leeky. "No, thank you, though. I have to go back to Hogwarts tonight. Hmm…maybe tomorrow, we might all end up at Colony House. No, Leeky, thank you."

As the house-elf tottered off Mione felt her bracelet tingle again. At least if something happened, and someday Scorpius did ask her to marry him, they would have a house. She looked over at the portrait on the wall, the one of her grandparents and her mum when she was a baby, all of them looking so alive. "Thank you, Grandmum."


	10. How Things Ended and Started

**Chapter 10: How Things Ended and Started**

_June 28, 2029_

Mione knew that nothing could put her in a bad mood, not on this day of all days. She ignored duck-faced Esmerelda Pitsmouth on her way back to her room, and after realizing that none of her roommates were there, she pulled off her tie, threw it in the air and jumped up and down on her bed with sheer happiness. Hogwarts was done! No more stupid NEWTS! After a particularly large jump she let herself fall on her back, bouncing slightly a few times before finally settling down. She knew she would miss Hogwarts, but now she was finally free to do what she'd always wanted to do, play Quidditch! From the moment she first got on a broom with her Uncle Ron it was all she'd wanted to do, and now it was finally, finally happening!

She rolled over to her bedside table and took the picture of Scorpius in her hands and rolled again over to her back. "It's done, Scorpius! Now I can move into Forthingsgate and you can come over whenever you want and Mum can't say a word!"

Full of high spirits Mione replaced the picture and then went over to her trunk, rooting around in it until she could find what she was looking for. Ignoring the pile of debris that existed around her trunk, old Puddlemere jerseys, some Wonder Witch products and a few old _Daily Prophets,_ she dashed into the bathroom. When she exited, headed for her father's room, she thought everything was perfect.

Not surprisingly Minnie had beat her to her Dad's room, but she was surprised to see her mum there as well, sitting in the big green chair and petting her father's giant, old grey cat.

"Well, Mione, that's a surprise. Didn't you…" Her Dad looked over to her mum. "Didn't she wear that…"

Melody nodded. "On her first day at Hogwarts. Four pigtails with butterbeer corks."

"I thought it was appropriate." Mione conjured a chair and sat down happily. "First and last days. Full circle."

That seemed to be the signal, as Melody pulled out a handkerchief and began dabbing at her eyes. "I can't believe you two, first HR and Lily make me a grandmother, and now you two are out of Hogwarts…"

"Tell me about it." Hank leaned back in his chair. "I know I'm old, but damn, girls." He pointed to Mione. "You're going off to start with the Wasps in two weeks…" He nodded at Minnie. "…you're leaving tomorrow to interview in Wales, Gin's packing for Italy…at least HR is staying put." Hank turned to Melody. "Face it, love, we're old. I mean, hell, I'm over sixty. Sixty! At least you're still in your forties."

"Barely." She looked over at her daughters. "Now I know we promised you we wouldn't do anything to embarrass you, but we're having some people over tonight. A small party. I know you probably have plans with your friends, but we'd like you to attend, just for a while."

Mione started to open her mouth but her dad cut her off. "Yes, Mione, we've invited the Malfoys, don't worry."

* * *

Martha and her parents were the first people to arrive at Colony House for the party. After Mione invited them in she understood why Martha talked constantly, as her parents hardly said anything. Luckily they didn't have to endure the awkwardness very long as the Potters arrived, followed very shortly by George and Angelina. There was a brief lull and then it seemed as if everyone arrived at the same time. Mione couldn't believe the house could hold that many people, even more than her father's Muggle Club parties, but somehow it managed. Her godparents arrived along with almost all of the Weasleys, but the person she was looking for hadn't arrived yet.

Mione was talking to Lily when she saw them arrive, Mr. M pushing Mrs. M's wheelchair. Luckily for Mione her Dad was by the door, so he welcomed them in. As they made their way over Mione was confused; where was Scorpius? She nodded at Mr. M as usual, and gave Mrs. M a hug. "Where's Scorpius? Isn't he with you?"

Astoria shook her head. "He's with Hugo, dear. I'm sorry, but he said that he might be a tad late."

HR and Lily arrived next, without Artie. "He's at Molly and Arthur's." HR smiled. "First time we've been sans-son in a long time."

"Very true." Lily hugged Mione. "Now come on, we need to get a drink. Your brother can fend for himself."

"Hey!" HR pushed his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose. "Stupid Gryffindors. Where's Minnie?"

Mione motioned somewhere towards the garden and she and Lily set off for the makeshift bar her father had setup in his office. Before she could tell Lily what she wanted her sister-in-law was behind the bar, mixing things up. "What are you making?"

"Uncle Bill gave me his recipe for his Specials. Go easy on them; I've heard your mum has a history with this drink, could be genetic."

"Ooooh, I've heard about those. I could use one, though. Can you make it weak?"

Lily snorted. "Not possible. Bill says the weak ones taste awful." After a few more ingredients Lily stirred the drink, poured it in a glass and was about to hand it to Mione when Melody walked in.

"Thank you, Lily." She took the Special and walked out the door.

"MUM! That was mine!" Mione looked over in mock anger towards Lily. "If she keeps that up Dad's going to be pulling shoes out of the ceiling again. Did you ever hear that story? He told me after Grandmum Lane's funeral."

"No, can't say that I have." Lily set about making a pitcher of Specials. "Have you seen Scorpius since the funeral?"

Mione shook her head. "Just a few letters. I need to talk to him, my bracelet has been tingling like mad all day, I think it's broken. Mr. and Mrs. M are here, but they said he was off with Hugo."

Lily stopped stirring for a moment. "Is that a good thing? You know Hugo."

"Oh yeah, I do. I would've guessed he would be with Gin instead of Scorpius, since she's leaving soon for Italy." Mione paused for a moment and watched Lily add ingredients to the pitcher. "Lily, are you sure that you and HR are ok with me living at Forthingsgate? You two have Artie…"

"That's your place now, Mione. HR and I love our house. Besides, HR inherited it along with the shop from Mr. Ollivander. Do you think he'd ever want to sell it?"

Mione laughed. "Hell no. Ok, I just wondered…"

"When are you moving in? You've got two weeks before you start with the Wasps, that's plenty of time. And with all of the family and extended family, there's definitely enough people to help you move."

"Merlin, I don't know. It's not like I have a lot of stuff." Mione took the Special that Lily poured out for her. "I mean, soon, I want to have my own place. Probably should do it before…"

Hugo walked in, smiling broadly. "So here's where they're hiding it. Thanks, Mione, I could use that tonight." He took the Special from Mione, winked at Lily, and walked out of the room.

"Bloody hell! Give me that!" Mione reached over to Lily, took the pitcher out of her hands and poured two drinks. After handing one to Lily she took out her wand and made a series of emphatic gestures at the pitcher. "Anyone else helps themselves to that and they're going to have a rude little awakening."

"Um, Mione?" Lily smirked at her sister-in-law. "If Hugo's here, then wouldn't that mean…"

Mione didn't say a word; instead she turned and went into the other room, looking for Scorpius.

* * *

Unfortunately for Mione she didn't make it very far as she was picked up off of her feet by someone. As soon as she heard his voice, though, she knew exactly who it was. "Put me down, Nate! You'll spill my drink!"

He sat her down quickly. "Sorry, Shorty. Couldn't help myself."

"He's horrible, you know that." Her Aunt Lavender gave her a quick hug. "We're so proud of you and your sister."

"Thanks." Mione took a quick sip of her drink and felt as if her brain was trying to leak out of her ears. "Bloody hell!"

Her uncle laughed. "Oh shit, is that what I think it is? Is Bill here?"

Mione shrugged. "Dunno, Lily made it." She paused for a moment. "Bar's in Dad's office."

"Mione!" A waist-high blonde streak hit her full force. "Mione!"

"Hi Claire. Merlin, you're getting tall!" She turned her cousin around and stood back to back with her, the same thing she always did when she saw Claire. "You'll probably be taller than me." After returning to her normal spot she looked down at Claire. "So did you ask them?"

"Yes, and they yelled at each other for a while. Dad said I could go to one of the American schools but Mom wants me to go to Hogwarts." Claire suddenly began giggling. "Is your boyfriend here? Dad said you have a boyfriend now."

"I don't know, Claire." She stopped and laughed. "Yes, I have a boyfriend, but no, I don't know if he's here or not. Want to help me look for him?"

"Sure!" She took a step and stopped. "Who is it?"

"The best looking man, in my opinion. Now help me look for him."

As they made their way through the crowd of people Claire pulled on Mione's hand. "There he is!" After making it past George and Angelina they arrived at the person Claire had picked out. "It's him, right?"

Mione laughed heartily. "No, Claire. Simon, this is my cousin Claire, Nate and Lavender's daughter."

"Hello there." He looked at Mione. "What did she mean?"

Rose walked over and sat down on the sofa next to her husband. "What did what mean, dear?"

"Oh Merlin, I don't know if I should tell you or not…" Mione covered her eyes momentarily. "Claire was trying to find my boyfriend. I told her to find the best looking man here."

"Smart girl, Claire. Very discerning tastes." Simon nodded seriously at Claire. "You're how old?"

"Seven." Claire nodded. "But not for much longer."

"See Rosie, even almost eight-year-olds know I'm the best looking…"

Rosie put her hand over Simon's mouth. "Thanks, Mione. I'm sure I'll be hearing about this for a while."

Everything went dark as hands were placed over Mione's eyes. "Guess who?"

She turned around and hugged Scorpius. "About time you got here. What were you and Hugo doing?"

Scorpius glanced over at Rosie briefly. "Nothing, Mione. Well, I'll tell you later."

Mione took his hand. "Nuh-uh, you're telling me now." She drug him through the room and into the kitchen, where her father said hello to them as he pulled something out of the fridge. After her dad left Mione fixed Scorpius in the eye with what she would have recognized as her mum's famous 'you're telling me' glare. "So, what did you and Hugo do today? Do I need to be worried? Gather attorney fees from my inheritance?"

"This…I…not the place, Mione." Scorpius scratched his head. "I wanted to do it later, but you're obviously not having it. That's how you want it? Fine with me." He reached into his pocket, pulled out something and went down on one knee. "Hermione Boyd, you're the only woman who knows the real me, and even though we haven't been together very long I feel like I know you so well because of the letters. We've had a long time to get to know each other through the letters, and I want to spend the rest of my life getting to know you in person. Will you…"

Mione didn't let him finish. She threw herself at him and hugged him tight. "Yes! Of course I will!"

"It's in the back of the fridge, right?" Hugo half-yelled towards the other room as he walked into the kitchen. As he went towards the fridge he saw Mione and Scorpius. "Oh bloody hell, Malfoy, you couldn't wait, could you?"

"I said it's in the back, next to…oh hello, what have we here?" Gin Boyd walked over to Hugo and put her arm around his waist. "Is this what I think it is?"

Mione and Scorpius stood up, and after he presented her the box Mione put on the ring.

"MUM! DAD! CAN YOU COME INTO THE KITCHEN? NOW! OR SOONER!" Gin turned back to her boyfriend. "So that's where you two went off to today. This is going to be good. Should we make popcorn, Hugo?"

"Way to go, Malfoy. Should have known you couldn't follow orders." Hugo shook his head. "We were supposed to…"

Gin turned to her boyfriend. "Huuuuuggggoooooooo…what are you up to? Now."

"Bollocks. Screw it." Hugo pulled a box out of his pocket. "We were going to take you two out to dinner, just the four of us, but somebody had to muck it up."

Mione watched her sister shake her head. Gin put her hand on Hugo's chest. "The big, romantic thing? You know I hate that stuff."

"I know, but Dad said if I was going to do it I needed to do it right, he botched it with Mum, I guess, and she's never let him hear the end of it." Hugo opened the box. "So the hell with all of it. Wanna marry me?"

Gin took out the ring, pretended to bite on it, looked at it for a second and then put it on. "Sure."

Mione watched as her parents walked into the kitchen, her mum concerned. "Gin, what's with all the shouting? This is a party, not a Quidditch match."

Mione looked at her sister and nodded. The two of them held up their left hands together, displaying their rings.

"Holy shit." Hank pushed his glasses to the top of his head. "I definitely need a drink."

* * *

Mione sat with Scorpius on the couch, her sister Minnie on the other side of her, while Hugo sat in a big chair with Gin on his lap. Nate leaned down next to Minnie.

"So let's see…your brother runs off and gets married right after finishing Hogwarts, you just got engaged, Gin did it at the right time, just a little after she'd left school…got any news to tell us?"

"Leave her alone." Lavender smacked him on the back of his head. "I just got you to stop looking like a frog; you don't want something else to happen, do you?"

"A frog?" Minnie looked over to her Aunt Lavender. "Come again?"

Nate rolled his eyes. "I helped myself to the pitcher of Bill's Specials in there and after one drink I turned green, bright green. Someone obviously did some magic on the pitcher."

"Sorry." Mione grinned next to Scorpius. "It would have faded in a day or so."

When the "old folks" as Hugo called them walked in and sat down in various parts of the sitting room Mione knew that it was going to be interesting. Before she could say a word her godmother gave her one of those special smiles, the sly one that Mione knew from being over at her house all those years meant that she was very happy and was right about something. Her godfather Ron, though, looked as if he'd just been hit upside the head with a Bludger. Her parents, oddly enough, were very, very calm, and that worried her. Usually her mum was not quiet, and it was her father who was the one who sat and listened; this time, however, it was the opposite.

"Girls, please do me a favor and either do a double wedding or space it out, ok? I don't think I can…"

"Don't worry, Dad." Gin glanced at Hugo, and he nodded in agreement. "I'm still going to Italy, so it's going to be a while for me an' Hugo."

Mione saw Mr. and Mrs. M come into the room, and she could tell that Astoria Malfoy was positively beaming. Even Mr. M, who was usually so reserved, was obviously happy.

"Mione, Scorpius? Don't feel like you have to set a date right away…" Hank took off his glasses and looked over to Melody. "…but keep us in the loop, ok?"

"June. Next June." Mione looked over to Scorpius. "Is that ok?"

"Whatever you want, love."

"Oh shit, don't tell her that." HR leaned against the wall, and Lily elbowed him. "Well it's true, Lils. She's a right pain in the arse, especially if she doesn't get her way."

George walked in, green as a green could be, and held up an empty pitcher. "I think we need more of these, and can someone change me back, please? Doesn't really go with my hair."

Later that night, after almost everyone had left Colony House, Mione and Scorpius sat outside in the garden. They were silent for quite some time until Mione tuned abruptly towards her brand-new fiancée.

"So how do you think they're taking it? Really?"

Scorpius rubbed a finger along his eyebrow for a while. "My parents are completely happy, of course. When Dad found out we were dating he sent me a letter basically telling me not to muck it up. They love you, obviously, especially Mum. I think your dad's happy, but Hugo and Gin threw him for a loop, doing it at the same time. Now, your Mum? I'm not so sure. If my name was Weasley or Jones or something I don't think she'd be as ambivalent about things, but…"

"Don't worry about Mum. She'll be fine. And if she's not I really don't care."

"That's not true and you know it."

Mione sighed. "Well…she'll get used to it. Since Grandmum died she's been different, not as shouty. Give her time."

Scorpius nodded and was silent for quite a while. Suddenly he laughed and looked over to Mione. "Your Hogwarts friend, Martha, is that her name? Is she always like that? I swear I've never heard anyone talk so much."

"Yeah, she's always like that. You learn how to tune it out or only listen to a few words, and she doesn't get upset if you're not really listening."

"I need to talk to you about something else, Mione. About my job."

"Yes? What about it?"

Scorpius' foot began tapping rapidly. "Um, well, you know I'm back on at International Relations, obviously, but they're promoting me up next week."

"That's wonderful!" Mione took his hand. "Just think, you're getting a promotion and I'm staring with the Wasps! And I have Grandmum's house now, its closer to London than the Manor, so…"

"No, that's not it, Mione. I'm not moving into your Grandmum's house…"

"Forthingsgate."

Scorpius nodded. "Right, Forthingsgate. I'm not moving in there until we get married, wouldn't be proper. Mione, I'm going to be travelling for work very soon."

"How soon?" Mione gave him a very direct look. "Scorpius?"

"Next week. Peru. For about two weeks, maybe a little longer. Hopefully we can wrap up the trade treaty early, depends on their…"

"It's always going to be like this, isn't it?" Mione sighed. "I'm going to be with the Wasps, hopefully, and you'll be going all over the bloody globe."

"It could be, Mione. I'm getting my foot in the door, out there with the real stuff instead of just pushing paper like before the war." He looked over his shoulder as the sound of the back door opened and closed. "What's your Dad doing?"

"Well, first of all he's smoking, that can't be good. Looks like he's taking his little back car out for a drive." The two of them watched as Hank left Colony House, headlights illuminating the dark Stintborough night. "Mum must need something. I swear he always goes and gets things for her, I think she takes advantage of him."

"No, I think he does it for her because he wants to. I understand that." Scorpius leaned down and kissed Mione. When they broke apart he smiled. "I think I really understand that, now."

* * *

After all the excitement of the previous night Mione, unfortunately, woke up early. She went into the kitchen, angry at herself, as she could sleep in as late as she wanted, today of all days, and she woke up as if she had to go to class. After pouring a glass of pumpkin juice she sat down at the table and opened up _The Daily Prophet. _If the paper was here, and had been read, then who was up?

Her answer came quickly, as her father walked into the kitchen from the back door, looking quite disheveled. "Oh, Mione, didn't expect you up so early today. Figured we'd have to blast you out of bed for lunch."

"Tell me about it." She watched her father make a cup of coffee. "Coffee? You don't drink coffee very often, usually tea. Why today?"

"Long night. Come on out to the garden with me."

Mione picked up the paper and her juice. She knew that it was going to be one of 'those' conversations, but at least it was with her dad. They sat down in the chairs underneath the umbrella, ignoring the slight misting rain that was falling.

"So, not wasting any time, huh?" Hank took a sip of coffee. "June?"

"It's a whole year away, Dad." Mione flipped open the paper and scanned the front page. After realizing that there wasn't anything interesting on that section of the paper, she knew her father was doing his usual waiting game. "Made a list yet?"

"What?" Hank reached into his dressing gown and brought out a pack of cigarettes. After fishing one out of the package he motioned to Mione. After she shrugged, indicating that she didn't have her wand with her, he started grumbling. Finally he found a crumpled up book of matches and finally produced enough flame to light his cigarette on the fourth match. "Made a list…yes, I have. At least you're waiting until I'm finished with Hogwarts for the year. Most of it, anyway."

"Sorry, Dad, but I didn't even think of that." She made an irritated face at him. "Does Mum know you're smoking?"

He laughed sarcastically. "Oh yeah, she sent me down to the village to get some last night. Tried to smoke one, even. That didn't go so well. You'd better let her sleep today, and if you know how to make one of those hangover potions you should probably have a few ready."

"Mum? Smoking? Wow. I don't know how to make hangover ones, I'll owl Lily; she's the best at potions." Mione watched him exhale a large amount of smoke. "So what's on your list?"

"Well, let's see. I'm over sixty, I have a grandchild, you and your sister both got engaged last night in the kitchen, you're moving out of the house and into Forthingsgate and starting with the Wasps soon, Gin quit her job at Witch Weekly and is going to Italy for a year to study painting, Minnie is currently on her way to Wales for a job interview, and Harry reminded me that Albus is still wandering around in his wilderness days phase with only occasional letters saying he's alive. Oh yes, and now besides the Potters I'll have Ron and Hermione as well as Draco and Astoria as in-laws. If only Rosie could have given me a clue…"

"It doesn't work like that and you know it, Dad. Besides, she wouldn't have seen anything about Hugo an' Gin. She can't see stuff about her family. Well, not her family family, you know what I mean."

"Right." He looked over to her and Mione could see the concern on his face. "So you're sure about this? Hermione Malfoy?"

"Not at first, Dad. I want to have Boyd on the back of my Quidditch jersey for a while." She smiled at him. "But eventually, yes, it'll be Malfoy on the back of my jersey."

Hank looked around rapidly at nothing, and then took another long drag off of his cigarette. "You know your Mum worked for the Harpies when Ginny Potter was pregnant with James. They have stuff in the contracts…"

"DAD!" Mione hit him slightly with the paper. "Do you think I'm going to give up Quidditch to have a lot of babies? Merlin, we just got engaged! I'm seventeen!"

"I know, Mione, but things happen. Trust me, I know. Your brother and Lily weren't planning on having Artie right away, and look what happened. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Artie for the world, but if you're going to play Quidditch you might have to delay things for a while."

Mione let her head fall to the table with a muffled thump. "I can't believe you're talking about this right now."

"Your mom brought it up last night. Don't get me wrong, Mione, I like Scorpius, always have. It's just that…well, you know the Malfoy family history probably better than most of the Malfoys with the exception of Astoria. I know about your conversation in Ron's office, of course. I think you know what to expect from some people, but I also know you well enough to know that you don't really care what other people think. Am I right? Don't answer that, I know you don't. Your mom, though, it's going to take a while for her to get used to the fact that she's related by marriage to Draco Malfoy."

Mione lifted her head off of the table and sat back in the chair, letting the misting rain fall on her. "Once she gets to know them like I do she'll be fine with it. You and Mr. M get along great, right? Didn't you do some stuff together before HR was born?"

"Mmmm…you could say that. Since I wasn't here for all of, well, the whole war with Voldemort, I get along better with Draco than most people. I know why he and Astoria spent so much time over in New Orleans. Speaking of that, I have a suggestion for you. I know you don't have to report in to the Wasps for a while, so why don't you and your sisters go over and visit your grandparents in Florida? I know they'd love to see you, especially since y'all have big news now." He hesitated for a moment. "Maybe you could take Scorpius and Gin could take Hugo. I don't think your brother will take time off from his shop, and Lily said something about a restaurant the other day. Know what that's about?"

Mione shook her head. "Scorpius can't go, Dad. He's going to Peru next week for work. His stupid boss is making him go for two whole weeks, maybe longer."

"Might have to talk to his boss, then, see if he can't come later."

"Dad, what can you do? You don't work at the Ministry."

Hank rubbed his cigarette on the damp grass and put the spent part on the table. "No, I don't work at the Ministry, but I believe his boss owes me a favor or two. Maybe more. I'll send him an owl."

Mione shook her head again. "Won't work, Dad. Scorpius said Mr. Sawgrass is a really tough boss."

"True, but he's one of my former students, among other things. I think he'll understand."

"Hank? Anybody home?" Hermione's head poked out the back door. "Sorry, came by Floo and nobody answered inside." She walked over and sat next to Mione. "I can't believe it, you and Gin. You're so grown up now, Mione." She looked over to Hank. "I found three grey hairs today. Three!"

Mione watched her father laugh and point to his mostly bald head. "At least you've got hair."

* * *

"Leeky, did I miss anything?" Mione stood back and looked at the Christmas decorations that wound around the living room. Garlands hung across the fireplace mantle, and the huge tree stood in the corner of the room, lit by small, twinkling red and gold fairy lights.

"Only the Christmas pictures, Mistress." Leeky waddled over to her with a stack of picture frames in her arms, depositing them softly on to the sofa. "Mistress Lane always put these up last, she did."

Mione picked up the first picture and saw herself throw a snowball at HR, knocking his glasses off. As he chased her out of the picture frame her mum came into view and tried to restore order. The other pictures were a succession of her and her siblings, growing older and in HR's case definitely getting taller, and soon Lily joined the pictures then finally Artie. When she got to the last two pictures, though, she sat down on the sofa.

"Leeky, do you remember when these were taken?"

The house-elf nodded her large head, causing her ears to wobble. "Oh yes, yes Leeky does. That one was Boxing Day, Mistress Gwennie brought over Professor Muggle. Bad end, Mistress Lane and Mistress Gwennie had a row." When Leeky saw the last picture, though, she started crying. After blowing her nose on her Wimbourne Wasps shirt she looked up at Mione. "Mistress Lane and Master Hieronymus. So happy." Leeky blew her nose on her shirt again as she headed back towards the kitchen.

"Mione are you sure it's ok that I'm here for the party because I'm not really family and my parents said I could join them in Spain but I really don't like Spain because its kind of weird and the last time I was over there I had too much Sangria and chucked it all up and I don't want to do that again on Christmas but if you want I can leave for a while, maybe Gilbert and I could come by later or I could just spend it with Gilbert and his parents though I don't think his mum likes me very much but his dad nods a lot and laughs so I think…"

"Merlin, Martha, its fine! You're my roommate, and you live here, why shouldn't you be here for Christmas?"

The Floo was heard from the other room, causing the conversation to cease. Shortly thereafter Minnie came into the room and hugged her sister.

"It looks wonderful, Mione. You did a great job."

"Not me, Minnie, Leeky. I just helped."

"I'm going to go help Leeky in the kitchen because everyone will be here soon and there's a lot of food because everybody's coming and…"

"Thanks, Martha!" Mione took Minnie by the hand and drug her over to the sofa. "Look at this, can you believe it?"

"Is that Grandmum and…"

"Yes, it is. Grandpa Hieronymus. Look how young they are…ok, enough about that, tell me all about Pryderi."

Minnie leaned back on the sofa. "Not much that I haven't told you in my letters. Still the same, the History of Magic professor decided to stay on a few more years so I'm stuck teaching Muggle Studies and working in the library. You know how we always used to make fun of Madame Pince? Trust me, that woman is a saint. Enough about that, what about you? The papers even over in Wales are talking about you. I saw the match against the Cannons on WeasleyVision at a pub, you were great."

"Yeah, Aunt Hermione's letter said Simon wasn't very happy, but if you can believe it Uncle Ron didn't sulk like he usually does after a Cannons loss. Next up's Puddlemere, though. You know James and that lot is going to be hard to beat."

"So where's Scorpius? Is he here yet?"

Mione shook her head. "No, he's in Moscow, but he's supposed to be home today or tomorrow. I had tea with his boss' wife the other day. It was so weird, Franny Sawgrass is always quiet at the things I've been to with Scorpius when the spouses are there, but when it was just us two she couldn't stop talking. Not Martha-level, of course. Did you know Dad and Mr. M helped them out when they were at Hogwarts? They even got engaged at school. Remember that picture in Dad's office, the one in the corner, by his raven?"

Minnie racked her brain for a moment. "Yeah, the one where people are out in a garden, the wedding picture? The one where we never could figure out who it was? No!"

Mione nodded. "That's the garden at Colony House. Scorpius' boss got married in our back garden. Weird, huh?

"Our whole family is weird, Mione, think about it." Minnie laughed. "There's never been a family like ours, has there?"

"Well, HR's weird, we all know that. Do you think he and Dad will wear kilts to the wedding? I haven't talked to Mum about that yet."

"Speaking of which, have you decided where? You could do it at Colony House, in the garden. That would freak out Scorpius' boss."

"Definitely not at Malfoy Manor. Even Mr. and Mrs. M agreed with me on that one."

"You don't pretend to work there anymore, Mione, you can call them by their names. They're going to be your in-laws, you know."

"They'll always be Mr. and Mrs. M to me." Mione looked around the room and her eyes fell on the pictures. "Why not here? I've definitely got the room. Hold on a sec." She looked towards the door. "Leeky, can you come here for a moment?"

Leeky came into the room. "Ah, Mistress Minerva, so good to see you again, it is."

"It's good to see you too, Leeky. I really like your shirt." Minnie winked at Mione.

"Leeky, can you tell me where my grandparents were married?" Mione leaned over and picked up the picture of Grandmum Lane and Grandpa Hieronymus. "Can you tell me about this picture?"

"That is in the back parlor, the day after they were married. Master Hieronymus even gave me a small present for helping. A small present."

"But where were they married, Leeky?" Mione glanced over at her sister, eyebrow raised.

Minnie's eyes lit up. "No way."

"They were married here at Forthingsgate, Mistress." Leeky bobbed her head for a moment. "Leeky has to finish cooking she does. Does my mistress need anything?"

"No Leeky, thank you." Mione took the picture and handed it to Minnie. "I think I know exactly where I'm getting married. Here, right here."


End file.
